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Topic: Paths (05/17/04)
TITLE: Bright Pink Lining By (Treava) Joyce Pool 05/23/04 |
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The next morning, I woke before six a.m., while it was still the darkest hour. I wrapped myself in a blanket, as it was cool, and took my lawn chair out to the middle of the sidewalk so that I could get a view of the eastern sky between neighbors' houses.
As the sky began to lighten, I was disappointed at the low floating dark clouds being whisked by from a strong breeze coming in from the southwest. They were settling on the horizon just where the sun was starting to come up. I just knew I was going to miss the sunrise despite my own early rising.
It was at that point that I noticed a reflection of my life in those clouds. A sunrise is so beautiful. And in my heart, I know that love is also beautiful. Somehow though, I've managed to miss the promises of the beauty, the color, and the intimacy it's supposed to bring with it. Just as I was about to miss the sunrise, I've missed out on knowing real, intimate love outside my beautiful, colorful, most intimate relationship with Jesus.
Suddenly, before the thought was even complete, I noticed the edges of those dark clouds turning a bright shade of magenta. The sky began turning white, causing the darkness of the clouds to intensify. Black trimmed in bright pink on a huge white background is too awesome a portrait for man to paint. And the clouds were quickly beginning to dissipate. Then I saw it.
The massive tip of the huge orange ball made its way over the tops of the trees. I'd forgotten how quickly the sun rises. And before I knew it, I was staring at more than half of the golden sun. Again, reflection by means of those clouds and, now, the sun:
My life, like a vapor is quickly passing me by. Perhaps there is no such thing as love for me. Maybe God has nobody out there specifically designed for me. And maybe I should try to just be satisfied in simply knowing God's love and having a personal relationship with Him. Perhaps my path, like the sun's, should be to worry less about the clouds and arise anyway. Little do we think about the fact that God knows our hearts even when we don't know the words to pray. And it wasn't as though I hadn't prayed about it a million times prior to that moment.
That night, I slept soundly and woke even earlier than the day before. I dressed quickly, made myself coffee, and took my coffee and lawn chair out to the middle of the sidewalk. The cloud coverage was so dense! I waited there long passed sunrise and found myself terribly disappointed. Back inside, I sat down to read my Bible.
Somehow, in my reading, I found a very beautiful promise there specifically for me:
You've prayed. Now, try it in faith, believing that I raise the sun up every day despite the clouds. I have the power to stop it from rising, but I don't do it. Even the clouds must obey my voice. Try believing that I know your heart and that I heard you, even the last two-thousand times that you prayed the same prayer a different way. Try believing that the path I gave you to walk is a path that I mean for your good because I am Love and I love you. Try believing that I let you wake early today only to find dense clouds for a reason. Believe this, that the clouds won't always be there come morning. There will be cloudless days. And your sunrise is on its way, but you'll have to wait. How many times must I say, I heard your prayers? In patience and with faith, believe I'm leaving love in your path because you continue only to walk a straight and narrow one.
Maybe tomorrow will be overcast. Maybe there won't be a cloud in the sky. I don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. But I do know this: It's going to be beyond beautiful because my Father is beautiful and wants the best for me. I pray the morning finds me waking early whether the clouds are out or not. One day, I'll buy another lawn chair and share one of my Father's awesome, colorful, most beautiful gifts He's given to me with that special someone who's waiting to be bumped into, somewhere in my path, who'll also appreciate the gift. In the meantime, I'm so thankful for peaceful rest and the ability to rise during the darkest hour.