Sometimes we just wonder how much rain can spill from the skies and yet more drops still fall. More rain still comes and the earth is green, so green, and when raindrops glisten in the sunshine between drops, the skies are blue, so blue. Yet, even the green, green earth and the bluest of blue skies somehow don’t cover the gray in the soul of you, because the muted gray hanging over your beautiful self is a heavy cloud from doing life. Yeah, just so happens, life happens and grays come, and rains fall, and storms threaten, and even the green, green grass of home doesn’t seem to make a difference, because the gray in the heart is a heavy gray; cumbersome, surrounding and overwhelming and it seems there’s nothing to comfort it this side of heaven. And you’re tired and restless and even though your mind wants to rest, it doesn’t shut down because it’s in relentless pursuit of quiet answers to hush the anxieties of the soul and heart of you.
The Psalmist in Psalm 84, expresses his deep, spiritual longing for God’s presence in his life, as he reflects on the temple and the pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem. He prays for himself and for them because he knows that only God’s goodness is greater than life itself. Verses 5 -7 he imagines the pangs and pains of their travel turning to joy upon arrival.
Yeah, the Psalmist knew anguished and lonely travelers needed strength to meet the challenges of pilgrimage along unmarked and unpaved paths, in all kinds of weather with threats of attack along the way. Verse 5, 6, he pens, “What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessing. They will continue to grow stronger and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.”
So hey, you and I and we and us, even when we feel totally exhausted from the rains and the heavy grays of life ever overhanging our beautiful souls, the prospect of drawing near to the Lord renews our spirit and refreshes our soul. Let’s do that today then! Let’s drag our tired, weary selves before the sovereign One who made us and knows our day ahead even when we don’t. He knows the gray of our sky on a blue day. He knows the lonely, the anguish, the challenge and the unmarked road we face. Let’s continue on then through this pilgrimage heavenward, undaunted by the gray, the rain and the adverse weather along the way. He’s got the day. He’s got the season! Let Him refresh and renew!
“For the Lord God is our Sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing for those who do what is right. O Lord of Heaven’s armies, what joy for those who trust in you.”
Psalm 84: 11, 12
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Hope and Healing In Hard Places 