The way the landscape changes after a storm always lures me to wander amongst the raindrops still lingering.  The view always shakes me because the colors are so pure, a vibrancy unleashed with the washing of the condensed clouds let loose. And there is a hush that permeates the air surrounding the storm-tossed setting. It, too, seems amplified… like hearing the song of nature for the first time. Almost as if everything was muted before and then all at once the heavens open up and the world was baptized in mercy… a cleansing, a resetting, a #gracemoment.

And truth be told, I don’t like storms.   I really don’t like them.

The fury and the violence and the uncertainty of all that can happen really unsettles me.   And I can’t reason why it bothers me the way it does, especially because of the work of Christ in my soul that has redeemed so much that was broken by fear and worry.  I remember reading about eagles that soar over storms in Isaiah 40:31 and how angels are sent to lift us and cover us in Psalm 91 in the early years of my faith and seeking the peace that passes all understanding that Philippians 4:7 tells us about.

But storms still can rattle my soul strings a little.

The gentle rain appeases my heart… it speaks clearly that there is a beauty in the waiting and pausing and resting.  The gentle rain reminds me of His Voice and the way He speaks intimately to each  of us who have looked right up into grace and accepted the gift given freely.

May my teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew. Let my words fall like rain on tender grace, like gentle showers on young plants. – Deuteronmy 32:2

Yet when the gentle rains come through, the stark clarity that shines is not the same.  I noticed that there is a soaking and a settling with the drenching that sort of sticks with you, keeping the cloud covering low and overcast. Unlike the storms that push through with the sun coming behind to reveal the glory underneath it all.

It is almost like the truest colors that are woven into the landscape are replicating heaven’s color wheel and mirroring glory as a glimpse of His promises. And it often takes a storm for us to see it like that. It takes the trial for us to appreciate what we couldn’t see before.

What if our truest colors, our deepest hues, were only visible after the turbulent passes through us?

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.- Ephesians 5:13

Like the storm on a landscape, we are wind-tossed and soaked through…changed.  Maybe we’re fragile and spindly, shaking and dripping from the moisture still clinging to the stem of our soul, but even in that drop there is a reflection of all that is seen…and a reminder that His sovereign grace always reigns through His mercy.

Even in the drops there is an image of the whole. Even in the miniscule there is a vision of the complete. Even when we feel  continually broken by the storms that beat our souls, there is a scattering of grace that seals us up in His mercy. Even when the layers of our limbs are discarded and flung out, the things once blooming are dropped and scattered, the branches that held on to the pieces we’ve clung to no longer hold the weight and break off under the pressure of the downpour… even then  there is still grace that shines in the midst.

We can still move on while His breath blows over us.  We have the resilience of faith and the expectancy of hope that lifts our eyes up to the hill from where our help always comes.  And we have the righteousness of His love that He has given us as our filter to see through over and over.

And as we look at the storm through the lens of mercy we see the brevity of the storm…a momentary existence that slips by with us still standing.

 But for you who fear my name, the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves released from the stall.- Malachi 4:2

Nature’s response to a violent rain and rushing wind is often exponential.  The petals open to receive the warmth and radiation of the sun and the leaves unfurl to soak up the light necessary to create food, while the roots reach lower gaining the nitrogen rich nutrients lightening has unleashed into the depths of the soil.  Shining brighter in the light that always comes after the storm and smelling sweeter in the purified air surrounding each bloom; they grow just in that one storm.

In our summer seasons, there is both beauty and brokenness, fear and exultation, worry and wonder, and yet it often takes a storm to truly see it through a different perspective.

I wonder if this is how He shows us what He sees.  I wonder if the landscape’s newest shades would look so glorious if they were not  also first bathed in the turbulence that storms create?

What if in your storm-tossed state He already sees the kaleidoscope of beauty, breath-taking for the wonderment that He has created you to be? 

Eclipsed by  the majestic violence that a storm, or a trial,  ushers before us, our sight is often unveiled to expose an entirely different image of His love. It resets our assessment of the situation, ultimately changing us through the unknown.

I wonder if He is teaching us again and again, in the patient mercy that is His love for us, how to praise Him in all things… to see what is worthy and good and hallowed because He is there stilling the storm and speaking peace to our souls.

Because in all things we can trust that He is faithful, that He is hallowing us, that He is changing us from glory to glory.

And knowing this, seeing glimpses of His holy wrecking that is really unchecked healing, we are brought into a place of worship and praise. We can look at the storm knowing that what will come out on the other side will be an image that bears the tell-tale sign of grace.

In all things give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  Do not quench the Holy Spirit. Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets. But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast. Abstain from evil in whatever form it may be. And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you  through and through [separate you from profane things and make you wholly consecrated to God.]; and may your spirit and soul and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of  our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).  Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself]  and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing you and keeping you].                              – 1Thessalonians 5:18-24

IT’S YOUR TURN TO BE A GRACE COUNTER!  SHARE YOUR GRACE MOMENT IN THE COMMENTS BELOW AND THEN COUNT GRACE WITH A FRIEND WITH COMMENT ON A BLOG OR TWO.

If you are a blogger, link up here with  a post about finding grace moments in your life or one of your favorite inspiring and encouraging posts from this week. Share your thoughts in the comment section telling me about the #Grace Moments you experienced this week. *(only 1 post per link please)*

Take time to visit your neighbor next to you, and if you want visit a few more friends on the journey. We all need a little encouragement and affirmation as we travel together.

If you don’t have a blog, you can connect with me via my Journeys in Grace FB page by sharing a photo or a comment.  Or you can join the party by sharing your images on Instagram with #Gracemoments hashtag.

Each week I will  try visit as many of your amazing  posts as I can.This is a safe place to sit and dwell in grace together, friends. I can’t wait to pour a cup of friendship with you and take in the grace moments you have to share. Don’t forget to leave a comment below, I love to hear from you.

Grace-Moments-button.png

 Loading InLinkz ...