It was one of those special (and not too rare) days in the Pacific Northwest where you keep looking outside. Confused. Trying to make sense of the fact that there's a pattering on the roof and a beam of sun shining through the window.
How can this be? Rain and sun together? At the same time?
I've been thinking about the man in Genesis, Joseph. How the only two times it specifically mentions God was with him was when he was in a pit.
First, the pit his brothers threw him in and only took him out to sell him as a slave. Second, when he was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown in a dungeon. Truly pits. And truly God was there.
It was raining and shining all at the same time.
We've been studying Jonah in school. He deliberately ran from God. Found himself thrown overboard ship in a storm and in the pit of a fish's belly. And there, once again, God showed up.
Light in deepest darkness.
No matter if I'm running from God or being shoved into a pit involuntarily, He is there.
And no less true today...true, abiding comfort found in these words. For us all...
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
In times of deepest need, hopeless pain, unsure outcomes, He remains with us. Our light, even when it's raining.
And I'm so thankful, thankful, for His constant presence, for He never forgets even when I do. So I stop to thank Him, remembering His regular, marvelous gifts:
#207-230
*Slow Uno games
*A night out with just my family..enjoying pancakes together
*Hazy horizons
*Launching Lincoln Log cannons in the war--they included me and even thought I was a good shot!
*A church which values prayer for the persecuted
*Joseph's story
*Call from my dear friend...life inside her after many years of waiting
*Hot coffee
*Daily provision
*Kind words at the right time
*Clearer understanding
*A good van
*Peace within
*Good talks with my son
*A walking partner
*School chaos that's okay
*Finding a half-price book holder at an estate sale...just what I was wanting!
*Phones for communication
*Communication with my Father
photos: warm springs rainbows, Tim in a puddle, firework text: Psalm 139.7-12
1 comment:
So many blessings! He is good, even in the rain.
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