After the Storm

Recently, in the late afternoon, I sat at my computer working. The day had been overcast and the sky that I could see from my window had darkened like an ominous presence. The window was open because, even though it was not particularly warm, the air held a cloying heaviness. The fresh breeze felt cool and pleasant on my skin. 

I heard it coming before it arrived. First, there was a warning shot, a ten second volley of hailstones flung down like a round of ammunition, that bounced on the grass and rattled on the deck roofing before clattering off toward the nearest mountain. 

A few minutes later a crack of lightning ricocheted across the sky, thunder booming off the surrounding mountains and rolling away into the distance like bowling balls in a stairwell. The birds went still. I heard the sound rushing toward me, a roar like the sea waves on rocks. Within moments it was upon us, blasting rain and hail. I ran and closed my back door, but not before the rug was soaked. When I sat again at my desk, I watched as the deluge beat upon my plants, stripping them of petals and leaves.

After about twenty minutes, it passed. The wall of weather moved up the valley. A while later, the sun came out and everything glistened with freshness. 

This reminds me of how life is sometimes. Things seem to be going along fine; everything is working, then, POW! We are broad sided by disaster or difficulty. And while we’re in that place, we cannot see any break in the heavy weather. No matter where you look, there seems no way out of it and the only choice is to hunker down and wait until it passes. 

There phrase in the Bible that I love, which says, ‘it came to pass’. When I feel overwhelmed with unexpected problems, and the way out is not clear, I remind myself that it came to pass, not to stay, not to take up residence with me, not to be how my life is from now on. No, it just came to pass, and pass it will.

Knowing this allows me to take a longer view, to see beyond my current situation and have faith for a better tomorrow. Believing for better tomorrows today helps to not only change how I experience today, but to a large degree determines how my tomorrows turn out. Faith and optimism create an atmosphere for more positive outcomes, no matter what I may be going through today. 

Remember, when you are in a storm, that it just came to pass. The sun will always shine again.