A New Day

Our front yard, bathed in sunlight (Dayton, Tx - Oct. 2013)

           Have you ever noticed that the sunshine never looks more beautiful than right after a rainstorm. The past few weeks here in southeast Texas have been weeks full of rain, hot sticky rain. Rain that brought mud, mosquitoes, and minor floods, rain that went on for weeks, only allowing us to see the sun in short doses before reminding us who was really in charge. The rain disrupted and dictated our lives, it told us what we could wear, what activities we were allowed to do, it interrupted our T.V. and our internet, it affected where we parked and how we got from one place to the next, our lives went on even through the rain, but they weren’t the same, we were limited to the dictation of the rain.

The picture above was taken a day after the rain finally dissipated and the sun came out to shine, what a beautiful difference the sunshine makes! I realized, standing in my front yard gawking and the beautiful sight above, that in the weeks of rain I had forgotten how beautiful the sunlight was. I knew I didn’t really like the rain but it was just rain it was no big deal I could live with a little water on the ground, life went on. It wasn’t until this sight caught my breath that I truly understood how much I need sunlight! It was a new day the rain was gone and the sun could now shine! But what if the rain had never left, what if the sun was never able to shine again?

For the past four months I have been in a personal rainstorm, I have lived with a cloud all my own that has followed me around keeping me company during my daily activities. Now maybe storm is a strong word, if I was a forecaster I would call it partly cloudy. It wasn’t enough to notice or complain about, but it was enough to keep me from fully enjoying the sun. In prayer this morning I was asking God, “what is going on with me, why do I feel less valuable, less worthy... less loved,” that's when the Lord revealed this cloud that has taken up residence in my heart, this filter through which I view the world, my life and myself.

So I did what I always do when the Lord reveals a mess in my heart, I asked him for help! I want this cloud/filter gone! I only want to see with his eyes and hear with his ears! So the Lord did what he always does when I ask him for help, he showed me the way. I now know how to fight this battle, and the weapons I need to be armed with. I am tired of this cloud, Jesus came “so that I might have life and have it to the full”, not so that I could live under a cloud of demeaning dictation. I was made with a purpose, I was bought at Calvary, I have been branded by Christ, and today I have been given a mission! It will take commitment, it will take sacrifice but I know the result will be stunning! It’s a new day, the cloud is gone and the Son can now shine!  

My mission today is clear... TO BE LIGHT!