I Believe in the Sun Even When It's Not Shining

 

There are those days, those moments when the sun shines, the warmth is felt, all seems right in the world and faith and God seem near.  

There are also those days when the clouds hide the visibility of the sun and the day seems quite cloudy and uncertain.

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As I sat outside one morning as this day was dawning, it was raining, foggy, and the birds were chirping.  Life was happening and the day dawning just like yesterday, but that day started with the colour in the sky and the sun appearing.

I reflected.  This morning is no different in the day dawning, except that is was raining and foggy.  The fog hid the sun but that did not mean the sun wasn't still shining.

So it is with our storms and rain and Jesus.  

When I was in my darkest stormy nights, Jesus felt far away.  I felt forgotten and often wondered if He cared or even still loves me.  (Yes, it is my weakness as I associate care, presence with being valued and loved.)  Prayers seemed to go unheeded or answered.

Through that and looking back, I see ways God was navigating and very present even when I could not see it or the darkness hid Him, just like the foggy morning hid the rising sun.

Faith.  Faith is believing in the presence of the Son, Jesus, even when what I am walking through is hiding His presence and I cannot see His workings.

Another day. Another morning. Repeat.

I wonder if you have this same experience?  I suspect you do, for we humans have the same struggles they only have a different face, maybe a different way it is seen or experienced.

You know, sometimes it's real easy to have faith in Jesus, the mountain top feel.  But the reality is, there are times it really is not so easy.

We recently experienced the eclipse of the sun.  For a minute or three, the day got dark and the sun obstructed by the moon.  Light and warmth were obstructed as the moon passed between us and the sun. It was a glorious moment to witness, but when the 'sun' gets eclipsed in my life it's really not such a glorious moment to live out.  

Faith is a choice.  A decision and a learning to know the heart of God and to trust Him, even if.  Faith is a decision to learn to really know God and to believe Him whether the sun is shining or not.

These words are easier to type than to live out.  These words I don't write lightly but I write them because it is true and to keep reminding my own fragile human heart that God is still good in the stormy night as He is in the sunlit, heartfelt moments.

The words to the song, I believe in the sun even when it's not shining, I believe in a God even when I can't see Him were written and inscribed on the walls of a prison concentration camp.  There were inscribed with a choice to stay with God, to believe Him even in the darkest and meanest of times.  

I don't believe they were written lightly.  They were written with a specific, faith-filled choice to believe God for who He is.

And I do the same.

Is it dark for you today?  Have you walked away from the God who loves you and is still good in the hard?  Maybe it is only a shift in your heart to not believe God or to think He doesn't care or you don't matter?

I know I have, it's easy to do when the hard washes over and knocks us down.  But I have also come back to stay.  To find refuge under the wings of our Almighty Father and to choose to believe His words of truth in a moment that screams otherwise.

Faith isn't faith until something doesn't make sense and you still stay with Jesus, trusting Him  and choosing to believe in His love and goodness; even if. 

Scatter Seeds, Scatter - Good Things

 

Fall is a time, as it gives way to winter, that seeds from many plants and flowers scatter.  You see them blowing in the wind, birds come to eat of their fare and spread them.

They lie dormant in the many dark and cold days and nights of winter until spring comes and the warmth of the sun stirs them to life.

Spring is a time of planting seeds and what we plant grows.  What we plant takes root.  What laid quiet and dormant becomes visible.

Be intentional with what you scatter, what seeds you sow as you go about your day.  For what you plant, what you sow, what you leave behind will at some point become visible.

What do you want to bear fruit?  What legacy do you want to follow you?  What words would you like said about you?

Scatter seeds of kindness.

Sow the seeds of love and grace.

Plant goodness and truth.

Give comfort where tears and pain are.  

Give a hug, share a smile, lean in towards the one you want to walk away from.

Rejoice in the victory of another and the gift they bring to the world.

Share Jesus, the One who is Life, for that is the best gift you can give to anyone. 

We all want kindness and care.  We thrive when someone sees beyond the dead branches of our actions to tend with care and bring to life the good that lies within.  Fight comparison and take care of the root of feeling threatened by the blooming and planting of another.

Leave seeds in unexpected places.  Give them to someone you would not normally seek out.  Leave the seeds wherever you go.

We control the results with what we plant with our actions today.  We're not entirely in control of the results, just like a garden, I plant flowers, vegetables and the weeds come in as well.  But the result is still vastly different if I let the weeds go or pull them out...  what we do makes a difference!

The key is... spend time with the Gardener and it will make all the difference in the seeds you sow and plant.  Don't focus so much on the seeds, but in spending time in the garden with the Gardener.  He'll tell you many things.