I went inside to grab my phone to capture the picture that was resonating with my soul. “It’s always brighter after the storm.” I have been in a season of storms, and just had so much hope welling up in my spirit. It was unfortunate that the camera would not capture the hopefulness that I saw.
However, after I finished what I was doing in the garage, I looked back over and saw the rainbow over the trees. And thought “It is easier to see the promise after the rain stops.” I can look back on my life and see the promises that came after the storm. Even as the current storm in my life came to an end, I could see promises fulfilled.
When going through tough times, it is hard to see that anything positive will ever come out of it. I remember the fist time I came across a scripture of promise that taught me to look to the end of the trial instead of focusing on the circumstances engulfing me.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
That promise alone has helped me weather many storms. To know that regardless of what I have suffered, it will not even compare to the glory that will be revealing in me is so encouraging when at times it feels like it is one storm after another.
I have learned to not allow the circumstances of sufferings and storms to keep me down to long. Yes, there are times my focus has to be redirected. Yet, through the majority of storms, I can remind myself that there is something that I will learn through the storm. Looking back I can not think of a single storm God has weathered me though that I have not learned something by the end of the storm.
I remind myself that storms come to bring growth, change, or to wash away things that shouldn’t be there. Areas where I am planted, I see growth through a storm. Areas that God has been working on in my life, are often changed in a storm. And sometimes, storms wash away things that no longer belong in my life.
I have been blessed to see many of the storms I have weathered, help other people. As a social worker, I am in a unique position to use self-disclosure to help others where they are. Seeing people’s lives transformed is such a blessing. Often times is just a connection that they are not alone where they are, and a hope that there is life on the other side. Other times it is the ability to cut through the red tape and dead ends to get them to a place where they can get the help that is really needed. And every now and then, it is a true soul connection, where God uses the right words at the right time to help someone see the promise is for them at the end of the storm too.
We will all face storms in life. We can allow the darkness to engulf us from the storm, or look at the promises to come. It is more beneficial to look at what might be at work in the storm. Looking at what good might come out of the storm or at least what we might learn from the storm can make the storm go by faster. Ultimately, we can use the sufferings we face to help others in their time of need. We will weather the storm, the question is “How will we be different after the storm?”
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