Shelter in the Rain
When days seem like forevers, and forevers are hard to bare – when I want to say
‘I just can’t thank You right now’ – that is when I need to thank You most.
So, thank you Father, for days filled with pain. Days that seem like forever.
Thank you for rain, pouring from a black sky, surrounded by blackened days,
seeming to never end. Thank you for water pelting down upon earth through sometimes raging storms, daring never to cease, one day turning to Spring. A Spring bringing blooms from seeds I was certain water had washed away, carried off into aching darkness before me.
Thank you for deeper understanding created through lessons taught amidst pain. An understanding that recognizes heartache more readily. Senses a hollowness within spirit, a torment and anguish of soul. A discomfort of body.
Thank you for those lessons that came from standing in rains, treading water in floods. Nails now gone and tips of my raw fingers, bloodied from scraping rocks, desperately fighting to hold onto threads of rope worn by time and trials. Watching dreams fade as hope withers like flower petals in the summer heat.
Thank you for songbirds that refuse to be quieted by storms which rain down hard upon feathered, ruffled bodies. Flitting about – to and fro – gathering food in rain and snow. They do not cease to sing, giving thanks in the good or bad weather of life.
On days that seem like forever, days that are hard to say ‘thank You’, I will thank you for the hard and the hollow. The dark and dismal moments filled with pain. I will know You are covering me with Your feathers, sheltering me under your wings. Protect me from the storms. I will thank you for the trials that have passed through your hands before allowing them to come into my life. Trials bring wisdom.
I will remember Your promises. I will give You thanks. I will not cease to sing your praises. It is there, in singing, I find comfort. It is there, in singing, I find hope. I find faith strengthened, joy anew. It is there, singing, whether in good weather or bad, I find You. I find that is enough.
