When it's all said and done

Heavy clouds cover the morning sky with darkness. Winds blow, clouds churn and rain pours. The umbrella turns upside down in the wind and eventually flies off into the storm. Really? But the weather reporter promised a beautiful day with the sun shining away the threat of bad weather.

All the plans made have to be held for another day. Yet it seems to go on forever and ever. How long will this storm last? It seems there is no hope.

Then when least expected, the rain stops. Clouds part and the sun explodes rays of warm sunshine. The promise has arrived. The storm fades away and joy takes its place.

As we go forward in life, there are those times that are as the darkest storm. Trials turn our inner umbrellas upside down and go on forever and ever. However, the Lord has help for every situation.

James: 1:2-4 encourages with these words, "When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

The Lord does not only work in the negative things that overcome us, but He is a God of can-dos as well. He cares that we enjoy life. He has a joy that nothing can explain or compare. The joy of the Lord is strength. In every situation we must trust in Him and not the way things may look like. When it is all said and done, the Son overcomes every darkness, every trial. His light shines on hearts and lives giving hope and joy and that thing that bothered us so much is gone.

Should you be going through a trial and need some hope and joy, my prayer for you is the same as Paul prayed in Romans 15:13. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Janie is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached at thewritedifference@gmail.com.