Yesterday I was listening to the downpour of rain. I knew the outdoor event I was attending would be postponed. But, we had seen the forecast, so it was already planned that the event would resume later in the day when the rain was gone. I thought about this old song:
I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh yes I can make it now the pain is gone
\nAll of the bad feelings have disappeared
\nHere is that rainbow I’ve been praying for
\nIt’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t those words express how we feel when, at last, the verdict comes out in our favor? Or, when the medical procedure or test reveals no disease? Or the baby is delivered after many hours of labor? Or the final exam grades were good enough to pass or even to earn a scholarship? Or any other test or trial that we go through that seems to have no end, but THEN, the bright, sun-shining day makes its way through to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we\u2019re singing a song of rejoicing because the obstacles that seemed insurmountable, the dark clouds, the pain, and the rain, are gone. All along God was there and we see the results of the work He has been doing in our lives. Oh, happy day! When we are going through difficult times, it is hard to see God\u2019s Master Plan at work and, for goodness sake, we wonder what benefit could He possibly have in mind in the midst of our trials. The wait. Oh, the patience we must have during the wait. Why, Lord, does it take so long? Again, we hear. \u201cBe patient, my child, I am working all things for your good. I promise you, you will thank me later.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apostle James expressed it this way: \u201cDear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.\u201d (James 1:2-4). Count it for joy? Seriously?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In God\u2019s grand scheme of things\u2026..the trials and the tests make us stronger. Our spiritual and moral fiber is being strengthened. Our story will soon have silver linings and it will be one, not only for the record books, but it will be a story that glorifies God and gives testimony to others of God\u2019s amazing grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So now, we carry on. We pick up our swords and our crosses and we carry them with honor to the finish line. It won\u2019t be much longer and it will be a bright sun-shining day again. The rainbow that we\u2019ve been praying for will soon appear. What if trials of this life — the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are God\u2019s mercies in disguise? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWeeping may last for the night, but there is a song of joy in the morning.\u201d Psalm 30:5. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday I was listening to the downpour of rain. I knew the outdoor event I was attending would be postponed. But, we had seen the forecast, so it was already planned that the event would resume later in the day when the rain was gone. I thought about this old song: I can see clearly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13216,13217],"tags":[7221,1272,13215,5926,4827,41,1317,13211,9288,13214,1237,11547,377,13218,8407,13219,12211],"class_list":["post-10160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rain","category-rainbow","tag-be-patient","tag-clouds","tag-count-it-for-joy","tag-gods-master-plan","tag-james-12-4","tag-joy","tag-oh-happy-day","tag-pain-is-gone","tag-praying","tag-psalm-305","tag-rain","tag-rainbow","tag-rejoicing","tag-sun-shining-day","tag-testimony","tag-tests","tag-trials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10162,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10160\/revisions\/10162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}