Rainy Days

Do not let the clouds of yesterday obscure the sunshine of today, nor let the sunshine of today give a false hope of tomorrow. For the rainy days of the soul are brought for nourishment,¹ and the sunshine for health. To dwell in one or the other for all of life is to be in a false balance, and an unjust weight.² I bring both.

You need not pray for rain, (and who could bear to), nor seek sunshine. They will each come as I see fit. For lo, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons…³ Yet, in all things, give thanks - “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” -1 Thessalonians 5:18

Oh Beloved, you cannot see how your life will turn out from where you are now. You ought to give thanks in faith and trust Me, regardless. What is a month, a year, a decade of sorrow; or a long detour from what you believe to be My will? Child, you cannot see the forest for the trees. When you come forth from the trial - as a dark forest - you will understand.⁴

In the meantime, do not be discouraged. Do not rebel. Give thanks to your God for His care and His activity in your life. Give thanks for His real-life training that He gives each day. Much more can be accomplished in one day from one of God’s refined instruments than could be produced in a lifetime from a stubborn instrument.⁵

Again, beloved, I say, think not your life wasted, nor your time squandered. For I chasten those that I love.⁶ Let a man only ask this: Do I love God with my whole heart? Do I love others as myself? If a man has this love, he can have God’s grace, no matter where it takes him. He can rest in God’s will, no matter how it breaks him.

1. Ecclesiastes 7:3-4
2. Proverbs 11:1
3. Acts 1:6-7
4. 1 Peter 4:12-13
5. 1 Samuel 15:22-23
6. Revelation 3:19

This video took longer to finish than I had expected, but I finally got it done! (With God’s help.)

Also, as a supplement, you can find the text version, along with some accompanying Bible verses to read, here. If you want to download the video file directly, click here.

Today I was watching some squirrels gleefully jumping and playing very high up off the ground in some tree branches. I was struck at how carefree and natural it seemed for them to be up so high, and yet not be afraid of falling.

You sometimes hear of a cat getting “stuck” in a tree, but never a squirrel. (That’s where they belong!)

Anyhow, this whole observation reminded me of a section in my book:

“On the highest mountainside, or in the uppermost branch of a great tree, does the eagle fear falling? Truly, can he fall?” (from Tears from a Lonely God - Chapter Seven: Wings of My Grace.)

Obviously an eagle evokes a much more noble image than a squirrel, but I think the analogy is the same. Certain animals belong in certain places, and when they are out-of-place, they are either uncomfortable, fearful, or even paralyzed. Think of the classic saying, “like a fish out of water.”

So too, I think it is the very same way with God’s spiritual life that He has for each and every single born-again Christian. If we are still clinging to our old nature, that of our flesh, God’s plans and spiritual callings will seem not only elusive to us, but also strange and foreign.

I’m reminded of this passage of Scripture:

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” -John 3:6-8