Most of us have probably heard the old saying, "Behind every cloud is a silver lining." In today's writing, DARK CLOUDS/SILVER LININGS, we hear about how silver linings come about with actual storm clouds and how that applies to our lives.
Blessings,
Jan
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Today's Devotional:
"DARK CLOUDS/SILVER LININGS"
by
Jan Andersen
Dark clouds can be very ominous. Here in Arizona we usually have clear blue skies, but sometimes storms come through with a vengeance, like this past week. We had 2+ days of solid stormy skies and torrential rains. But what happens if the sun shines from behind the clouds when there is a little break in the black-blanketed sky? It can create a most beautiful outline around the edge of a storm cloud that simply glows - a beautiful silver lining!
Sometimes our lives are filled with gloomy darkness and life-storms. Those times can be very frightening and even devastating. But God is always behind those thunderheads in our skies, and if we look carefully, we can find the silver linings!
This year my household has been hounded with medical issues and hospital stays for both me and my husband. First myself in April, my husband in July, then myself again in October, and now twice in November for my husband. At some point in October we met our max out of pocket amount for the year, so our medical expenses are zero for the rest of the year. I was able to take advantage of that and had some things like a skin check by a dermatologist and so forth without further cost to us - an unexpected blessing. Another positive out of the negatives was that I was off work for 6 weeks after my October knee surgery while my husband had his 2 November stays, so I was able to be with him as much as needed. It has kept us leaning on God throughout and allowed others to intercede for us in prayer. Hopefully we have been a positive witness to all those with whom we interacted during these stays as well. God has shown his light, and the dark clouds have had silver linings!
No dark cloud can have a silver lining without the sunlight shining behind it. The sun is always there, just blocked from our view by the storms. We must remember that a negative occurrence in itself can have a positive aspect to it, or a silver lining. We must maintain our faith in the Son who is always there in our good times and our stormy days as well, and He intends to bring about good from all things for those who love Him and are called by Him.
Romans 8:28 ESV And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
Without the sun there would be no silver lining to a cloud, but also without the clouds there would never be the gift of a beautifully glowing silver lining! So when your dark days come, remember to look for that silver lining, even if all you can see is that it is making you turn to God more. Even the rain has its blessings as it waters the earth to make it bring forth growth. May your storms help you to grow in your relationship with Christ and share Him with others - silver linings indeed!
Dear Father in heaven, help us to remember that even our storms have blessings. Help us to rely on and trust in You to bring those raindrops to produce growth in us, but to know You will not let us drown. Thank you for those silver linings! We also hold on to the blessed hope of an eternal reunion with you in heaven, that free gift of salvation through your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen.
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Song:
Blessings
Laura Story
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Sometimes the trials of this life are a blessing in disguise!
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Prayers are lifted up daily for you by the Devotional Writers and the Monthly Writing Staff of Women's Focus Ministries
Blog writers:
Sandy Billingham, Karen Bennett,
Brother Thomas Ukwute, Jody Ward,
Bre Miller, Lynda Kinnard, Amie Spruiell,
Debbie Rodriguez, Carol Steficek,
Jan Andersen and Corinne Mustafa
Hi Jan, this writing was covered in a slightly different way in our Church message this morning. Pastor Michael called it "Rhythms oflife." He went on to say that even though David spent his early years after being chosen King by God. He called this times in our lives spent in the pasture where God is preparing us to follow path for which He has created.
ReplyDeletePraying that Neil head towards health soon.
Your writing as usual is inspired.
God bless
Corinne Mustafa