The Perfect Storm

 In the darkest of our storms, a beautiful sunset may only be moments away.


I had been so adamant about going to a certain concert for months that there was never any doubt in my mind that I wouldn't somehow make it. I watched the ticket websites for weeks waiting for the price to fall, but they remained steadfast and even climbed a little higher the closer we got to the date. My dad is probably the inspiration or blame for this stubbornness. All my life I have seen him ride it out to the last minute from football games to concerts and for the most part he comes out with a ticket and a discounted ticket at that.
As the week of the concert approached and I still had no tickets, I began to worry a bit. I went as far as to call into the radio stations. But I was trusting the Lord. I had a strange sense that it would work out. Finally I scrambled some tickets the day of the concert at a reasonable price from some people selling them. I was ecstatic. I was thrilled. I was frowning at the way the whole sky looked gray and rain was predicted right up until show time. But hey the show must go on and I was holding out hope.
It was about five minutes after we presented our tickets at the gate that the amphitheater turned into a lake. The rain started to pour, the thunder boomed and lightening filled the sky. We gathered under the concession stand shack like sardines with gloom on our faces and waited. I was finally starting to be honest with myself...it didn't look good. Deep inside I wondered if this was because I had pushed so hard to go to the concert. I had made it too important.
Surrounded by people, darkness and the storms, the chance of actually seeing the concert was looking slimmer by the minute and if the lightening did stop, we would surely be sitting in rain the whole time. Delayed until 8:15 was the gossip, but we wondered if it wasn't to be delayed for good.
And then when it looked as if all was lost, the rain stopped and the sky was painted with the most beautiful of sunsets. A splash of red and orange and yellow filled the night sky and everything cleared. We made our way to the seats and could see the city lights and the mountains in our view. The breeze was slightly blowing and I couldn't help but think how beautiful the night had turned out to be.
And what a beautiful picture of our walk in life. We are so often faced with downpours and darkness and gloom and we think there is no way we can make it through the storm. We argue that things don't look good and we wonder how it could turn out alright. We live in despair believing our show will not go on. But I can tell you with proof that God is faithful. We never once walk alone. In the darkest of our storms, a beautiful sunset may only be moments away. It's a matter of letting the SON shine in our life when it pours and finding brighter days.
  Jesus said in Matthew, "Surely I am with you, always to the very end of the age"(28:20). As my ticket said about the show, “rain or shine" God is always waiting on stage for our complete focus. He will be there through every storm and every rainbow. That concert taught me to press on even when it looks hopeless. No storm is too much, too hard, too high or too low for God. He is the perfect answer to every storm.
-Only Hope

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