The SUN

When the sun came out a few days ago after what had seemed like a decade of cold, wet, and BLAH weather, I found myself more thankful than ever for the warmth and sunshine. I was all of a sudden energized to sweep off my carport, help plant the onions, and play ball with my kids. A simple thought occurred to me when I first saw the sun come up early that morning. I would not have appreciated the sun if I had not been without it for a week. The darkness made me thankful for the light. I realized that very simple thought could be a way to look at trials and tough times. I took a journey back in my mind and applied it to other things that I have been through. If I had not at one time been really sick, I would not appreciate good health. Walking into Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas on a regular basis made me learn to appreciate walking into ETMC to see Dr. Orms for a friendly check-up. If I had not been surrounded by noise and activity for many hours at a time, I would not appreciate the gift of quietness and being alone. If I did not have kids who fight and fuss on a regular basis, I would not know to cherish the times we all get along. My dirty car makes me appreciate it when my car is shiny and moderately clean. (No, it is never really clean so I chose the word moderately carefully to describe how clean it is.) Saturdays spent doing too much before I knew how to say no make me grateful for Saturdays now with nothing to do. You see…I believe our greatest lessons and blessings come from trials and hard times. We do not learn to truly be grateful for anything until we are tested or without it! When life is good, we do not usually lean on the Lord because in our minds, we can do it all on our own. When something happens that wakes us up and shatters our plans by knocking us down a notch or two, we look up and cry out for help. On our knees is just the position we need to be in for the Lord to work and for us to know without a doubt that we can trust Him. Maybe a good assignment this week (this is the teacher coming out in me) would be to fill in a few blanks and look at your own trials too in light of this idea. If I had not been through ______________________, I would not know _________________. I close with this one that is nearest and dearest to my heart. If I had not lived a life in bondage with my own insecurities and issues, I would not appreciate the fact that Jesus lived and died to set me free. Without the many years in chains, I would not know grace, joy, freedom, and true peace. I would not know forgiveness either. The good stuff in life is often comes as a result of the bad stuff. I guess that is what James meant when he wrote, in way more eloquent language than I just did, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” in James 1:2. Trials of many kinds will come our way. That is a guarantee. What we do with them makes all the difference. Perseverance sounds better to me than bitterness and defeat, so fill in the blanks and be blessed. If I had not dealt with _______________, I would not know __________________.