“Sunshine In The Rain”

“Oh what a gloomy day”…. a phrase my mother would utter when the weather was dark and rainy, and gloomy ….. a day somewhat like today. The weather would really affect how she felt. If it was a bright sunshiny day, she perked up; if it was a gloomy day, she would be a bit down. Research indicates that light can affect our moods. Longyearbyen is one of the cities in Norway in which the sun doesn’t appear all day during the mid-winter, from October 27^th  to February 14^th … almost 4 months…. Yikes. I wonder if a lot of sad people live there. I didn’t finish the BLOG yesterday and today it’s a beautiful sunshiny day. My spirits are a bit higher. 

I just heard a song called “Sunshine In The Rain” (Hummingbird)…. wow a beautiful song…somewhat of a combination of the sadness of a rainy day, but with the hope of the sunny day shinning forth. I’m not sure I should cry or sing. As the song continues you can see the sunny skies taking over… you can feel hope taking over… you can feel a smile forming on your face. We cry “stay with us Lord… don’t leave us Lord”… and the Lord assures us, “I will NEVER leave you…you are my beloved…. and my smile gets wider.”

As I was wandering through the scriptures today, pondering the words and thoughts of the Lord, I could picture the Lord breaking thru the rain, the sadness, the loneliness. “ Hope in him, hold firm and take heart… O Lord, hear my voice when I call; have mercy and answer… it is your face, O Lord, that I seek…do not abandon or forsake me; O God my help… I am sure that I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living …. Hope in the Lord!” (Ps. 27) 

The Lord understands. He knows the battles we face. He understood loneliness. He experienced all temptations. When we face all of this, he is there with us. In today’s gospel Jesus says, “ you will leave me alone.. but I am not alone because the father is with me. I have told you this so you will have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (John 16:29-33)

So where does this leave us? Where does this leave us when the water rises and the problems seem to be too great? It leaves us in the arms of the Lord who will never leave us, who has conquered the world. Lord, you guide us who walk in darkness…you do not disappoint those who hope in your mercy. 

Our hope is in the Lord who made heaven and earth. We serve a great God who will always have the last word…and that word is salvation and hope and joy and eternal life where every tear is wiped away. And that is the Good News.