The Beach: Sunday November 12, 2006

I've got this whole journey to walkback through. I contemplated starting now and working backwards, also starting at the beginning and working towards the end. It just didnt seem right, with what I've felt about each step. I'll start with some of the more recent steps, and I'm guessing it will end with the first step. Between here and there, I'll just tell whichever story seems appropriate at the time. Come, take a walk with me.

How refreshing has this rain been? I couldnt help myself last night - after church I drove down to the beach to watch that storm come in . The sky was black, the air was warm, and the rain was that big sploshy kind (what a technical definition!) It was so nice to just kick back, put on some good music and feel it all. There was electricity in the air, and suddenly the sky lit up. The whole sky, in a silvery flash it went from black, dark and bleak outside to dazzling day. It was beautiful, but it was the huge crack of thunder that followed which really got my attention. It's been a while since we've felt a good thunderstorm. That first roll of thunder shook everything; God was stamping his ownership on that storm. This rain is nothing compared to what we need to solve our problems, but it is an improvement, and November is shaping up to be a pretty good month for rainfall. We've spent weeks praying for a break to the drought.As I watched that display come in over the bay last night, the light show in the sky, and felt fresh rain wash over my face, I knew that God was giving an answer, "Stay strong, pray continually. I am with you. When you suffer, I suffer with you. When you are longing, I am longing with you. When you are alone, I am by your side. When you are discouraged, I am your hope!".

For me this worked on more than one level. I'd had such a good week - an eye opening one, with a lot of lessons that God had been teaching me over different time frames (weeks, months, years) coming together. It was like I'd been weathering a storm for so long. At times I'd raged against God. At times I'd wept. I knew that God was never away from me, but it often felt like he was turning his face from me. Hope and faith were all that kept me going through the worst and most stormy times.

As the storm cleared, a peaceful night sky settled. Stars glimmered through. In the same way a peace settled in my heart. Hope shone forth. I thought about the old days of sailing ships, how in a storm, they dropped sails, tied themselves down and let the storm do its worst. When the sky cleared again afterward, the navigator would look for the first stars to come through, and figure out where they had been blown to. After the week I had just come through, it was like that. I'd weathered the storm, and now the stars were showing me the way home.