when the rain threatens to wash you away...

the clouds swell big until they burst forth with drenching rain.  rain that spills and spills and spills.  leaving you to wonder if you'd be better off with a boat. 

you lean on the promise that He will never again flood the earth.

but what about your heart?

your heart can be flooded with so many emotions.   emotions that could, at any second, sweep you up in a rip current so violent.  pulling you under.  shoving and pushing and leaving you begging for solid footing. 

i find myself drowning under the downpour of it all. 

there are deadlines.  and chores.  and the feeling of wanting desperately to be in two places at once.  there are the unanswered questions.  and the not knowing.  the wondering if this will be the day when life resumes normal pace.  then there are the worries and fears and doubts of what lies just around the corner.  the thoughts of what the new normal will look like.  and the anxiety that life will never again feel normal. 

in those moments, when the emotions are threatening to pull you under, you feel something {someOne} wash over you.  filling you with hope.  with love. 

and you remember. 

you remember!

his grace is sufficient.  for it all.  for this day.  and the next.  for what lies ahead.  and for lies behind. 

trusting his word as ultimate truth, i know that i have been dealt the exact measure of grace i need to get through this difficult time.  i'm learning to suffer well, knowing that it produces faith and endurance and completeness. 

i'm counting all these moments as pure joy.  because i trust that at the end of this life i will lack nothing.

trust me, when i say, it has been difficult to find the joy through these long days.  but when i squint my eyes just so and seek him in the midst of the moment, my heart floods with joy unspeakable.  some call it 'finding the silver lining' or 'god winks.'  but i call it joy.  unspeakable joy.  rising in my soul.  gripping me tight.  promising to never let me go.

we will suffer.  his word declares it. 

trials and tribulations and sufferings will happen.  this world is a dark, fallen place.  but jesus won, remember?  through him, we declare victory.  and in him, we find peace.  a peace that surpasses all understanding.  all logic.  and all reasoning. 

so, when the rain threatens to wash you away in a riptide of emotion, i urge you to get swept up in his word.  truth so captivating you can't help but find joy in the midst of the storm.