Perspective

This week has been a stormy week weather-wise.  We have needed the moisture, so the rain has been good.  The way in which the rain has come has also been good.  If it rained too hard, too fast, the ground wouldn't have had a chance to soak in all the goodness, and that wonderful moisture just runs right off.  But we have been fortunate this week, because generally, our several inches of rain has come in rainfalls of .30", or .50" at a time.  This is an amazing gift.  

Yes, there were some more intense rains, particularly the other morning when we got an inch of rain in almost an hour.  That caused some tension.  Some of our beans have been in the ground right about a week, so a rain too hard would cause them to wash out.  If the beans hadn't taken hold yet, re-planting is usually needed.  But, after a drive around some of the fields yesterday, my amazing husband is pleased with how things look with this much rain with such young plants.  

Last night, there were some wicked-looking clouds around here, and we spent the majority of the evening in a thunderstorm warning.  This is not unlike how most of the week has gone.  Dave and I spent quite a bit of time watching the sky, either from the open garage door, or out the front window.  We have a unique opportunity, as our living room and garage face west, so we are able to see the storms coming in, but our kitchen and deck are on the east side, so we are able to see when the storms are past.  Sometimes we have some fun with this, saying, "I like the east side better, it's still raining over here," or "Ohhh - look over here - it's done raining already" if we're in the living room.  

As the storms progressed past us last night, Dave called to me from the kitchen, commenting on a rainbow.  It was a full, complete rainbow, which is really cool.  But better than that - it was a complete, full, double rainbow.  I couldn't get the whole thing in one camera shot -- but here it is in two.  

So this morning, when I woke up at 3:45 (don't ask -- I don't know why!), I started thinking about last night's storm, and the rainbow.  And it struck me how our perspective makes all the difference.  We can be going through an incredibly difficult time -- feeling we are in the middle of a storm, feeling alone, feeling betrayed, feeling abandoned -- even by God.  Wind blowing all around us.  Rain pelting down.  Gray clouds and wicked skies surrounding us.  

But eventually, it passes.  

The wind dies down.  

Rain stops.  

Gray clouds part to an amazing, peaceful, beautiful sky.  

It doesn't always happen right away.  Sometimes it takes hours.  Days.  Weeks.  Months.  But God is faithful.  He will see us through our difficulties.  He will not leave nor forsake us.  

When we are in the middle of our difficulties, it's often hard for our limited human-sight to see what good can come from a situation.  But when we get on the other side of the storm, we can see God has been working all along.   

Fields become green. Trees grow.  Flowers bloom.  Rivers and lakes and streams flow more freely.  

We are refreshed.  

We can choose to focus on the storm, or we can choose to focus on the rainbow.