The sun after the rain

Today was just a typical day. I had the day off and was set to get a whole bunch of things accomplished (none of which has happened, but the night is still young, right?!) The later on it became, the darker it got outside. Big grey clouds came overhead, soon the thunder began, and then in a few minutes it was as if the heavens just opened up and started pouring right here on the mountain.

It lasted about 10 minutes. I thought it was going to last throughout the night it was so bad. But then... the rain lifted, the clouds moved, and the sun started to peek out. At one point there was rain and sun at the exact same time.

And it got me thinking.

There are storms that we have in life... they come unexpectedly sometimes. We sometimes think they'll last briefly, while others seem to never give in. The rain just keeps pouring and we don't know how much more we can take without feeling like we're drowning in it. We feel like we are outside, with nowhere to go, no shelter from this storm that has come without welcome. But today... the sun came out. The sun came out so much sooner than i thought it would. It came when I wasn't expecting it to. At one point it came while there was still some rain.

Life is like that. Sometimes we get bombarded with rain and thunder and the silly thing is... we're standing outside in it, getting drenched and in danger of the lightening that surrounds us. We have such an obvious option... we try to see how much we can take outside on our own... forgetting that we have Shelter that awaits us. A place to go to be comforted, to be shielded through the storm. Our Shelter is our Father. The sun that comes after our storm, is the lessons we learn through it. It's the falling on our knees completely broken realizing that He is the One we truly must cling to during the storm. We can't be outside trying to act as if we are ok and we can handle it on our own. You get sick staying out in the rain. You get wet and tired and hungry if you stay out too long. No, we MUST go in for Shelter. And even when those storms in life are so bad and it's even a little scary when we are in Shelter... remember, the storm can't make you come outside. We are safe in our Savior's arms. No matter how frightening or horrific the storm... we are nowhere near danger if we run to our Savior for help.

So whatever storms you may be facing... don't handle them on your own. Don't wait outside pretending you have the strength to wait it out. No... run quickly to saftey. Run quickly to shelter.

Run quickly to Jesus... watch the storm from that place of security. And know that there's no better or safer place you could be... then in the arms of the One who will make the sun come out again.