As I sit here looking out my window this morning at work, my first thought is that this rain and the clouds are ruining my beautiful view of downtown and feeling kind of blah because on most days, I enjoy a beautiful view with blue skies, sunshine, trees, and water stretching out for miles across the city. I can look down and see people bustling around the streets, birds flying in the air, cars whizzing by wondering if this is a little glimpse of how God views his creation from above. However, today, it’s cold, raining, dreary, cloudy, gloomy and it feels like the rain will never stop and the opposite is true, people are inside, moving sluggishly about, no birds in sight and a feeling of gloom and despondency replaces the usual vitality of the city. As I am sitting here wondering when the rain will subside, the clouds will lift, and the sun will come out, I’m reminded that’s what life is like. Sometimes, it seems like the rain and storms of life are never ending, the beauty of God’s promises, our dreams, and visions are obscured just like my view and we are left thinking when will this end and the sun shine again. However, with this type of thinking, we can become discouraged, lethargic, unmotivated and even depressed and we lose our joy instead of being filled with expectation, hope, and faith in what God is doing and has in store. Also, we miss out on the beauty God has to offer in the rainy seasons as well like spiritual growth, valuable lessons, and a deepening of our relationship with Him. After all, the God who authors the clear skies and sunshine in our lives also brings the clouds, the rain, and the storms. Therefore, if we can appreciate God’s provision and presence in the sunny seasons of life, shouldn’t we be able to appreciate and be thankful in the rainy seasons and trust that He is working in those too even when our view is clouded. In fact, without the rain and clouds we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the beauty of the rainbows that appear sometimes afterwards reminding us of God’s love, presence and promises. So today, instead of complaining about and wishing away the rain and clouds outside my window and in my life, I can choose to be thankful and see the beauty in them as a foretelling of glory and the victory to come because on the other side of the rain and the storms I can see clear skies, sunshine and beauty up ahead.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
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