Last night a couple of lines of powerful thunderstorms marched across Lancaster. Loud rolling thunder, brief high wind gusts and torrential rainfall were par for these storms. At one point, I decided I had better go downstairs to check my basement. All was fine until I got to my back door. There I found some water seeping in. I opened the door and found a small pond just outside the door. The drain located there was working - but the rain was falling so fast that it could not keep up with the volume of water (at one point last night, we received an inch of rain in a 25 minute span - now that is some rain storm!). As soon as the rain let up, the drain was able to catch up, and the threat to my basement was over!
Life can often be like that. We get hit by some sort of unseen, unexpected crisis. It comes with such force we just don't see how we will ever survive. The circumstances are of such a magnitude that we are overwhelmed. At these points, is there any hope? Absolutely! For starters, just like my drain and the rain last night, usually even the most trying of life circumstances will eventually "let up." Trials come and trials go - but, except in a few cases, they rarely stay forever (and even if they do stay with us all of this life - that is NOT forever!). So all of us can find strength when facing difficulties by cultivating the attitude, "This too will pass." But even more important than this is the reality that whenever we suffer, we never suffer alone. God has promised us, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze" (Isaiah 43:2). So whenever we are going through it - even if we feel that we are soon to be overwhelmed and swept away - take heart, your God, the Creator of ALL is with you. You can count on HIM to get you through!
Thanks for listening,
pj
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