PICTURE PRAISE
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
1 Peter 1:3
It’s cold. As in, stay in a ball, grip tight the bed sheets, and ignore calls for breakfast type of cold. I normally walk with my three older children out to the bus stop, but these past few days I’ve found any suitable excuse not to go out into the -13 C winter air. I know it will hurt and I know I will hate every step.
We live close to the ocean and each morning as we walk to the bus stop, we all gaze at the sun rising to sing us through another morning. It really feels like God is taking requests on the colors we would like to see and the shapes of clouds that would bring us the most joy each morning. Every time we walk past, I say, “Thank you Jesus for the sunrise!” This display of majesty each morning is truly a gift.
Last week, my oldest daughter said to me, “Mom, these last few days when you haven’t come to the bus stop, the sunrise has been incredible…and you’ve missed it!”
I was missing it. I was choosing to avoid the pain and hurt but I was also avoiding joy, wonder, and awe. In my desire to remain safe and comfortable, I was missing out on something that brings satisfaction to my day-a sunrise. And the thing was is that I was doing this consciously. I didn’t even care that I was missing the sunrise. The thing I DID care about was avoiding the pain of winter.
Missing out on suffering also means I was missing out on God. He wanted me to bear through it for something better. God wants me to put on layers of clothing and prepare to struggle because he knows that it will be worth it when I saw the hope of the sunrise. So I will walk through the struggle and bear through the hard because the sunrise will come. Hope will rise.
©2016 Thrive.