When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. [Genesis 9:14 (NLT)]
When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation. [Proverbs 10:25 (NLT)]
Even though pumpkin spice lattes are available, pumpkin kringles can be found at Trader Joes, and Michael’s, Walmart, and Target are displaying their Halloween décor, here in Florida, it’s still summer and rainy season. We’re experiencing temperatures in the 90s and rain nearly every day. Sometimes, it’s a real doozy with thunder, lightning, and a torrential downpour; other times, it’s just a little drizzle. God willing, the weather should improve next month and, by the time we turn our clocks back November 1, the beautiful weather here will remind us why we moved to southwest Florida in the first place.
While we can look forward to the end of summer’s storms, I have some friends who seem caught in the stormy season of their lives. Instead of high humidity, thunder, lightning, and rainfall, they’re enduring a downpour of trouble and challenges with no end in sight. Granted, some of their storms are bigger than others (a cancer diagnosis trumps the allergic reaction to a medication), but whenever a light shower of difficulty ends, a hailstorm of challenges isn’t far behind! Like a flash of lightning, some sort of emotional, physical, or financial trial appears whenever the sky seems to clear. While the calendar tells me that summer rains and hurricane season soon will come to an end, they have no calendar telling them when their stormy season will stop.
Although their troubles rain down on them nearly continuously, their misfortunes seem to run off them like water off a duck’s back. Challenges that would sink many others have little effect on them; persevering, they just keep paddling along. What differentiates them from other people who seem to sink in just a small downpour of trouble?
The difference, of course, is that they are Christ followers and God’s power sustains them and works through them. They receive strength from Him daily. While they pray their season of trouble soon will end, they know that God’s plans for them are good. Even if the storm doesn’t end in this lifetime, they have hope because they’re confident in the shalom that awaits them in the next. Because of their deep and abiding faith in a loving God, Christ’s followers don’t have to wait for the season to change to see a rainbow in the midst of the storm.
There is only one secure foundation: a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through any and all turmoil. No matter what storms are raging around, you’ll still stand firm if you stand on His love. [Charles Stanley]
Since her church attendance is limited to Christmas and Easter, with an occasional funeral or wedding thrown in, a neighbor describes herself as being a “Birth and Resurrectionist.” People like her are often categorized as “nominal” or “non-practicing” Christians. Granted, church attendance is not the litmus test for Christianity. Nevertheless, lack of church attendance indicates a lack of commitment and a token or non-practicing faith. While such people identify as “Christians,” their Christianity is a more a matter of culture, habit, or tradition than one of faith, creed, and rebirth.
My husband managed to track tar into the house on the bottom of his shoes. Unfortunately, he tracked it right onto the new bedroom carpet! I immediately got out a whole battery of chemicals and tried to clean it up. Needless to say, my efforts didn’t improve the situation; in fact, they only made it worse. In desperation, we did what we should have done in the first place: we got the name of a good carpet cleaner and called him. He spent as much time cleaning up the residue from my failed efforts as he did cleaning up the tar.
“The Lord is my portion,” wrote the prophet Jeremiah. Throughout the Bible, a wide variety of metaphors are used to describe God— rock, refuge, shield, shepherd, fortress, potter, and light—but portion is one of my favorites. Portion refers to one’s share—be it of plunder, an inheritance, or food. Not being a soldier, I can’t relate to the spoils of war and I’ve seen way too many inheritances argued over or squandered to associate those meanings with God. Food, however, is something to which we all can relate.
Today’s socks tell me, “I am perfectly made” and remind me of Psalm 139’s affirmation that, “I have been remarkably and wondrously made.” All of my low-cut athletic socks have pithy affirmations woven into the toes. Depending on what pair I choose, I’m reminded that I have hope or that I’m loved, brave, strong, grateful, kind, powerful, blessed, or thankful. My favorite pair, however, tell me, “I am with you always!” It may seem silly, but there are times, especially during difficult days, when I recall the day’s affirmation on my feet and I stand a little more assuredly.
Monday’s devotion (“No Words of Comfort”) originally was published back in 2018. It came to mind because my son-in-law recently died. His death was sudden and unexpected and, when my daughter told me, I was sure I’d misunderstood her words. Not Mike! Still a young man in the prime of his life; it couldn’t be, but it was! Just as we all know we’re going to die someday, we know the people we love will die. It’s just that we expect those deaths to be on our timeline. But they’re not—they’re on God’s. The only guarantee that comes with life on earth is that it will end!
Devotions of the Heart 