Object Lessons

Lately, God has been using my commute to and from work to teach me things I need to learn, or remind me of  important things I already know but need to remember.  It's been good.

There has been a darkness in my life for the past few months, both physically and emotionally.  The weather in the Pacific Northwest has refused to let go of the gray, wet of winter.  Here we are on the first day of June and it is pouring rain outside after another day of heavy overcast skies.  After a while, it takes an emotional toll.

For the past several months, there has been a gray cloud at my work as well we wait to hear who is going to be layed off from their jobs.  We are looking at  possibly 200 people being let go.  The uncertainty and distrust is also taking an emotional toll.

So last week as I was driving to work on another rainy, gray morning, the heaviness that I felt was almost palpable. With my windshield wipers going full blast, I looked out the window at the road ahead and felt like crying.  It's been hard for so long. And I truly try to look for the positive in the middle of all of the negative.  Sometimes I'm successful.  That morning...not so much.

But as I continued down the road, I noticed that there was a lightening of the clouds ahead.  And eventually, I could even see some pale blue on the far horizon.  The weather was changing.  I was still in the rain, but the road ahead promised blue skies. 

With rain still splattering my windshield, I felt God reminding me that there will always be dark days.  It's the way life is.  But during those times, I need to keep moving.  For a while, I may have to travel through clouds with no sign of the rain letting up. Or, I might have a glimpse of brighter skies ahead while it's still raining where I am. But I need to keep going. There will come a time when the clouds are in my rear view mirror and I'm under glorious, blue skies.  Because, that too, is the way life is.

So, tonight as I type this with the rain pouring outside my window, and the threat of losing my job as real as it's ever been, I'm choosing to keep moving forward.  And when I finally chase down those blues skies, I'll appreciate them even more because of the dark journey that I've been on for so long.