Stormy Weather

We recently traveled to Denver, CO, so my husband could attend a conference. Our daughter and I tagged along (another homeschooling blessing!) and took some field trips to museums and the zoo. It was a great trip!

On the way home, we drove through several mountain ranges and passes. As we approached one range, we noticed some clouds gathering over the mountains...

As we got closer, we could still see the sun... barely. It looked terrible ahead! We knew that with the elevation climb toward the pass, it would likely be a "wintery mix" rather than rain. We hoped that going over the pass could be done safely, and wouldn't take us three hours!

It was definitely a "wintery mix" at first, then turned to purely snow. The road was slippery, and the winds were fierce. The only other vehicle we saw on the pass was a snowplow! Thankfully, it was still daylight through the pass. I'm not sure we could've made it in the dark.

At times, it was a whiteout. The sole reason we continued was that we knew as we went down in altitude, the weather would improve. And it did. By five miles past the pass, we were back to sunshine and clear skies.







As Christians, our life is kind of like our trip through the pass. We can know that stormy weather is ahead; Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12, "...all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Many times in the Bible, we are assured that we are not free of the tribulations of this life; there will be storms.

Sometimes, we can see these storms on the horizon. Sometimes, they ambush us and take us by surprise. But there will be troubles in this life. A "wintery mix" of pain and anguish will be ours in this life. At times, the whiteout of distress will envelope us, obscuring our view of anything but our immediate situation.

And still...

We can know, yes, truly know, that if we keep traveling the road God has placed in front of us, we will return to clear skies and sunshine. In Romans 8:38-39, we are assured: "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So, when we are traveling in great weather, like my family is right now, we can expect that things will be more difficult sometime down the road. And when we see the storm on the horizon, we can trust that God will sustain us through it. And when we are in the midst of a whiteout, unable to see beyond our grief, we can depend on the love of Jesus to make all things right in the end. We will return to sunshine and clear skies.