I was in a home décor shop a few weeks ago with my sister, when I spotted a plaque that touched me. The saying went something like this…
“Life Isn’t Just About Getting Through The Storms; It’s About Learning To Dance In The Rain”.
I would have to admit that this little thought stopped me dead in my tracks. As I looked at my sister, we just smiled and I noticed a tear in her eye. It’s so true.
A peace washed over me that transcended all of the panic over the world economy and global crisis. It went so much deeper than any of the issues that I have ever faced in my life or ever will. It is a peace that everything will be alright because I know that the same God, who loved me enough to come and die so that I could live, is the same God that holds all of our chaos in the palm of His hand. I imagine Him sitting back and watching us try to get ourselves out of the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, thinking “Kids… will they ever learn?” I know this much; As any good parent giving their children wings, He will let us learn our lessons.
As a Christ-follower I live with a knowing that when I’ve fought all my battles, cried all of my tears, and finally come to the end of my own egocentric existence, I will stand in front of Him, not thinking about any of the problems that I’ve been through, the mistakes that I’ve made or the sins I’ve committed, but in holy adoration and gratitude that I will not be held accountable for them. Yep, I live knowing that in the end, I will be standing on the winning side, and all of this earthly mire we keep wallowing around in will be gone forever.
Perhaps like you, I have been through more storms in my life than most, some of which I didn’t know if I’d live through. But it’s because of those storms that I came to a point of complete surrender and put all of my trust in Jesus Christ to direct my life. When I did that, He reached down and took my hand. Slowly, I started to hear it…the music…what The Message calls the “unforced rhythms of grace”. As He gently pulled me back to my feet we started moving together, one step at a time…one, two, three….once, two, three… Before long, I got caught up in the beat and before I knew it this dance of communion with Him felt like second nature to me. Today, there isn’t a whole lot that can rob my joy for very long. The Holy Spirit just reminds me to listen for the music…for the rhythms of His grace…to keep my hand in His…and keep dancing!
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.
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