Anyone familiar with Central Missouri knows that the weather can be unpredictable. With the blessing of four seasons comes the reality that one can leave home in the morning wearing a winter coat and return at day’s end in shirt sleeves. So, I wasn’t too surprised last Sunday morning to see the snow showers that had been forecast.
Flakes the size of chicken feathers were a different story.
As I looked out the window, I remembered a song we sing at
church, taken from Psalms 118:24.
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (KJV)
I knew the snow wouldn’t last; the temperatures had been consistently high enough in the preceding days to warm the ground. Still, the flying flakes reminded me of the winter just past. Nearly everyone I knew was weary of the cycle of freezing temperatures and precipitation that marked the first weeks of the new year. The prospect of brighter days had brought forth a collective sigh of relief.
I remembered more than once, looking out the window during those dreary winter days, thinking to myself, “But Lord, I don’t like this day.”
This morning, Good Friday, dawned gray and chilly. As I looked out the window, I thought of another Friday long ago, and the dark, chilling fear that must have settled among those who walked behind a cross on the path to Golgotha. And then, I thought of something I’d never considered before.
The Lord who carried that cross made that day, too.
Our human nature tends to equate words like “rejoice” and “glad” with feelings such as happiness or delight. To tell the truth, some days I feel neither happy nor delightful. None of us are immune to runny noses, bad hair, flat tires, long lines, or sad news. Things don’t always go like we plan. Sometimes, one thing after another happens and, like that stretch of dreary winter days, we wonder if we’ll ever see daylight again.
The Psalmist wrote gut-wrenchingly honest words that lead me to believe he felt the same way at times. Yet, he never lost his faith. Our Lord, who loved us so much that He gave everything for us, never lost His either.
For this, on any day, I can rejoice and be glad.
Copyright 2019 lifeatroomtemperature.com Sherry A Hathaway. All rights reserved.