Our Life in Review: Lesson #5 This too shall pass…

Every morning is a mystery. I never know what the scene will be outside my kitchen window. I love the ocean. I find it calming. Peaceful. Alive. After retiring from the transient life of the Air Force, I wanted a home with a water view. But alas, beachside is not our lot in life. However, marshside is!

So every morning I wander down to my kitchen to grab my cup a’ joe. I look out the window over my kitchen sink and wonder, “Will there be ocean or mud?” The water in the marsh rises and falls with the tide. This morning was the most beautiful, chilly fall morning. When I glanced out the window, my heart filled with joy. No literally. Seeing God’s amazing creation brings a smile to my face and I’m filled with gratitude.

Attempt #1 The white in the distance are the diamonds! But I guess you just have to trust me.

Just beyond my fence, the tide was so high that the water almost touched the tip of our kayak on the bank. The sun, which has been hiding for a few days, was reflecting off the water, looking like a million diamonds dancing over the surface. Something about that view filled my heart with hope. Today was going to be a good day. I grabbed my camera to try to capture the view. But honestly, I failed. The picture doesn’t convey what I saw.

 

Attempt #2...nope. You still can't see what I saw.

I sat down on my deck to soak it in. And as God often does, I felt Him teaching me something in this moment. I was so taken with this view because it doesn’t happen every morning. I’m not sure that I would ever take it for granted. I’d like to think I wouldn’t. But I may never know. Because that’s not my life. On the mornings the tide is low, I wake up to mud.

This morning I thought, “The sparkling water is so much more beautiful because I know what the marsh looks like without it.”  

And such is life.

I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike discomfort. If I could have it my way, every day would be easy. No pain. No discomfort. Never too cold. Never too hot. Constant perfection. But here’s the reality. If life really was like that, we wouldn’t appreciate the good in our lives. Without something to compare it to, life would be bland. Boring.

Challenge and change are the spice of life.

When my husband used to have to go on extended TDYs or deployments, I dreaded the pain of that separation. It was hard. I’m glad those days are over. (Not to confuse you, we just traded those struggles for new ones.) But in the struggle, I grew. I learned I could do more than I thought. I didn’t enjoy it, but I survived. And on the best days, I thrived. God was faithful. We got through it. And when we were reunited, the joy of having my husband home was heightened because I knew what it was to be without him. The contrast made me appreciate his presence so much more.

Have you ever been so hungry that whatever you eat tastes better than you ever remember it tasting before? "One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet." Proverb 27:7. 

Or when you've been sick. That first morning you wake up feeling normal again. You never realized how great normal felt until you were running a 101 fever and couldn't keep anything down. Suddenly "normal" is amazing! 

Like the ebb and flow of the tides, our lives are filled with good and bad. I look out at the mud when the tide is low and think of how muddy and messy life is sometimes. Some days I’m tempted to wallow in that mud. To even start believing that the mud is all there is. Until the tide comes back in. 

Even though I don’t understand them, the tides have a God-given schedule. They happen twice a day. But to me they seem random. I don't understand them. They aren't on a 12 hr schedule. And so it is with my life. I don’t understand His timing, but I trust that He does. Believing Him to be all-powerful, I know that all He has to do is say the word and my circumstances would change. But His ways are higher than mine.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord."For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

If I can trust that God knows what He's doing, then I can work through the hard times believing they are producing something good in me. James 1:2-4 puts it this way.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Dear friend, no matter what you’re going through right now, this too shall pass. There are better days ahead. The tide will come in. The water will sparkle again. And when it does, what joy will fill your heart!