A Day of Mourning

"The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment." 
-Luke 23:55-56

How hard must it have been to watch Jesus suffer, die on a cross, then be given a hasty burial so as not to violate their law.  How much harder to sit idly by the next day, this same law preventing them from doing much else besides grieve.  I wonder if God designed it for this purpose- that they may have full access to their grief without passing it off in other actions.  A deeper grief.  A deeper understanding of what had transpired.  A deeper pain.  A deeper joy.  Yes, joy.  Just not that day. 

Knowing how the story ends, I see perfection in the pain.  Take any joyful event in your life.  The smile of a child.  A much-needed job offer.  The birth of a baby.  If that exact same action were to be experienced both after an absolutely fine, normal day and after a dark, grief-ridden day, which do you think you would feel more fully?  Which would be more needed?  Appreciated?  How do you think you would feel if it was nearly a full reversal of that which caused your grief?  I don't believe God wastes an opportunity to grow us, to refine us, to bless us.  To love us. 

Winds of Rain

Pulling weeds on a warm April day, I am aware of many things.  The temperature of the dirt.  The feel of it crumbling through my fingers as I lift another root out of the ground.  The stillness taking over the sky.  Birds have quieted their songs and a low, gentle rumble can be heard from somewhere distant.  A breeze drifts by, its coolness flowing over my hands and face.  The recognizable dampness that comes only just before the rain- with the scent of something strong, fresh, revitalizing- has arrived.  In a few minutes, perhaps even an hour, there will be rain.  A storm.  With power to nurture; destroy; beautify; reveal.  Whatever God commands. 

In His kindness and wisdom, He has gifted that moment of peace and comfort preceding the storm to envelop, to calm.  Perhaps not so much a warning of what is to come, but a reassurance that He is in control.  That in Him, we can breathe in His refreshment.  To feel again the invigoration of life that He has created and made new.  He graciously allows us to have that moment of tranquility to get us through the storminess that is about to pass by.  The storm may not halt us, but it can redirect us.  Fully embrace the cool breeze ahead of it so that it may lead you- harbor you- for whatever may come. 

Psalm 68: 7-9
When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.  You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.