This afternoon I looked up in the sky, noticing the wind and the clouds moving quickly above me. The warmth of the sun was shining down on me, but soon (when the clouds covered the sun) it became noticeably darker and cooler all around me.
As I watched the clouds cover the sun and cause darkness and coldness all around me, this seemed to be a perfect comparison to how I have been feeling lately. I have been recovering from a physical illness since mid-September, and I have felt discouragement and even depression try to settle on me as my daily life and routine has changed while my body heals. Even writing has been difficult, and writing is normally as easy as breathing for me.
Proverbs 13:22 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (NIV).
I feel like I am in a season with clouds hiding the warmth of the sun from me, but God encouraged me today with this simple analogy as I sat there a little longer. I was able to watch the clouds break up, and the bright sun’s warmth covered me once again.
The warmth of the sun reminded me that God is still here. (The sun was there all along. It was only hidden behind the clouds.) God knows where I am, and He hasn’t forgotten me in this cloud-covered time of healing I have found myself in. I don’t know when it will happen, or what it will look like, but I know one day the clouds will clear and the warm sun will be shining down on me again.
Do you have hope that has been deferred in any area of your life?
Maybe you are in a season like I am, where it seems as if the warmth of the sun has been hidden from you. This can cause great discouragement and lead you to wonder if your situation will ever change. Don’t become lost in the darkness around you. The Lord is near you, and He is there to guide you and walk with you during this trial in your life. Maybe it has been so dark around you that you can’t see God at all. Pray something simple like this, and I believe He will answer you:
“Father God, I am weary and discouraged. The darkness around me feels so consuming that I cannot even see You anymore. Please show me where You are in all of this, and I will follow You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
