Everything is gray in those brief moments before dawn. Just over the edge of a field, the flowers all look the same and can barely be distinguished from the grass. But when the light creeps over the horizon onto the field, ever so slowly the flowers emerge.
A single flower stoops from the cool and darkness of the night. With time, its vivid colors can be seen, and the flower bends towards its shadow. The back of the petals begins to feel warmer as the sun rises further over into the sky. The bud begins to turn towards the heat — and the light. When the flower fully raises its head into the glow of the sunlight, it blossoms further. Its blossoms turn from vivid to radiant. The petals straighten and reach outward onto the beautiful day.
Isn't that what happens with us? The world can be a cruel, stressful, and disappointing place where all we see are darkness and shadows. But the Son of Man is just over the horizon, waiting for us to turn to Him. Once we do so, He cleanses us in His blood and nourishes us with His body. It happens simply because we decide to turn our gaze from the valley of the shadow of death to His everlasting glory. Our hearts open and are made whole by His brilliant light. When the flower turns towards the sunlight, it is still part of the field. Forces of nature and things out of its control will still happen — as they happen to us. Jesus told us of the sower who sprinkled seed everywhere and how the seed took root on good soil. When His Word takes root in our soil, He will nurture and tend to the plant. That care doesn't mean that every day will be perfect, sunny, and just the right temperature.
It means sometimes it won't rain as much as we like. If it did, we wouldn't need to grow our roots stronger and deeper to sustain us in times of real trouble. Sometimes the world will seem like a whirlwind of activity when all we want to do is sit. But windy days build up the hardiness of a plant so it can survive a storm. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” God already knows us and our deepest, darkest fears and secrets — and loves us. He loves us so much He not only sent His Son, but also will give us exactly what we need to refine our hearts.
Things happen: cars break down, kids get sick, the toilet overflows, we sprain an ankle. Family members or friends disappoint us, even betray us. Organizations have flaws. Thing we need are sometimes delayed.
Or we face the unspeakable and unbearable tragedy of losing someone most precious to us. We can't imagine how we will survive even a single day without that person, and life seems intolerable. Depression may strike, and we can't even see that we're in a dark tunnel — let alone fathom there is a light at the end of it.
When those moments come, we make a choice. Either we keep our gaze on this world, which may be full of shadow and doubt, or turn instead to His light. St. Paul helps us deal with these disappointments:
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us — they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. — Romans 5:3-5
If we spent years or even decades living in those shadows, we may feel safer nursing our fear, doubt, anger, and frustration. Habits of rushing to judgment, losing our tempers, exploding in anger, or doing something self-destructive may be ingrained. After we turn towards the Son and the storms still hit, it's easy to get distracted from Him and stare into the shadows again or focus on the puddles of mud around us.
When those moments hit, stop. God told us, “Be still and know that I am God.” Shift your focus out of the rut and upwards to our Savior. Take some silent time and fill it full of prayer and praise. Your prayers may not change a situation — or another person — but your prayers will change how you view that circumstance and react to it.
When problems without easy solutions lead to sleepless nights, turn the tables on them and choose to turn to Him. God knows what He's doing. He knows what we need. If Joseph had never been sold into bondage in Egypt, we never would have had the epic of Moses and the Ten Commandments. If Ruth's first husband had lived, she never would have moved, and David would never have been born. God provides even when we don't realize it.
He is preparing a place for us far beyond this world. One day, when the time is right, He will send His Son to call us to our heavenly home with no shadows, pain, or darkness. Fanny Crosby, the famous hymn writer who was blinded at the age of 6 weeks, once told someone, “When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.” “To God Be The Glory,” one of the hymns she wrote, tells us in the third verse, “Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; But purer, and higher, and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.”
Let go of the shackles of this world's shadows and bask in the light of the Son.
Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion. — Psalm 84:4-7
Mary Biever is a homeschooling mother of two who publishes encouragement articles and runs Encouragement Workshops for Today's Families.
This article was adapted from one of her columns.
