EncourageYou!

One morning our family of five drove off for the beach while the weather was pouring down rain. Our van was packed as fully as our anticipation for this phase of our summer vacation. How exciting! Returning to my hometown of Portage, Indiana, my family with me, to visit one of my top favorite places, Indiana Dunes, a day at Lake Michigan. On clear days you can see the Chicago Skyline to the Northwest. On hot days the cool, fresh water of the 2nd largest of the five Great Lakes would surely refresh anyone. Miles and miles of beach, cool breezes, and summertime memories! Something like this is looked forward to not just by kids.

As we continued along, the rain beat down upon our van, thick clouds keeping the location of the sun a mystery. Our wipers are due to be replaced, so at one point I had to pull over and re-attach the wiper on the driver's side. As we continued on, the information console on the van told us that the temperature was a very un-summertime 70 something degrees. A few hours later, we arrived at my mom's house, and now six of us were on our way to lunch and the mall, talking about how much fun we would have at the beach the next day.

What would motivate us to plan, pack, drive, and be ready for a sunshine day at Lake Michigan while dodging raindrops, listening to an occasional rumble of thunder, and not seeing the sun for a couple of days? The weather forecast! With satellite TV and our internet connection, we kept close watch on what to expect in the next few days. As our day was a washout at home on Tuesday, and Wednesday didn't look much better, we studied the signs that pointed to a sunny and hot day on Thursday. Confident in the promises made to us, we forged ahead.
The day at the beach was what we hoped for. Thursday morning, the clouds began to disappear, the sun came out, and the temperature climbed into beach range. Before long, we found our perfect spot. That day, nothing was missed. We setup, played, splashed, swam, made sandcastles, had lunch, collected rocks, bottled up some sand for a souvenir, created memories, and talked about our next trip to Indiana Dunes. A few clouds here and there, with sunshine, hardly any wind, not too crowded, and the water was fine. Just as we planned.

When storms and rain are upon us, we take comfort in looking ahead and seeing that sunny days are coming. That is true not only for family trips but also for our day to day life in this world. Storms from within, perhaps health problems, relationship problems, or shattered dreams. Storms from without, perhaps job or other financial woes, disturbing current events, uncertainty about the future. Knowing the upcoming forecast can help.

Jesus himself gives us his forecast in John 14:1-3, " Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

We get another glimpse from John in Revelation 21:1-4, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

You and I have had both storms of life and sunny days. Sometimes, it seems as if we've had more rain than sun. But we can plan and live through the rain as we study the Forecast from the Son above. Beautiful days are coming, and I am thankful that we get occasional glimpses of them through God's creation here on earth, especially sunny days at Lake Michigan.