This past week our country has endured dangerous record heat waves. My brother lives in Nevada and sent me a screen shot of the temperature, it was 118 degrees! Out west they are having a drought and some areas of California are having to limit their water usage. In the southern Midwest they are concerned about flooding today. For those of us in the Brandon area, we are going to have a gloomy day with lots of clouds and maybe a bit of rain.
I mention the weather because I feel like the weather often mirrors the different seasons of our lives. Like droughts and storms, there are times in life of extreme troubles and like the weather, we cannot control them. Sometimes life just happens, and we are forced to make our way through a path we have never traveled before. We wander without a map and without any idea of when we will reach our destination. That path may be an illness, a lost job, a wayward child, a struggling marriage, mental health issues, the list can go on and on. This is when our faith can be most comforting.
While the book of Isaiah has many words of warning, it also is full of words of hope. Isaiah 42:16 says, “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone.”
This is a beautiful reminder that sometimes it may feel like we are walking blindly through life, but the truth is that God is there leading us and guiding our steps. He is actively smoothing out our path to keep us safe and help us move forward in our journey. While it may feel uncomfortable and certainly scary at times, God’s presence is continual and steadfast. He will walk with us until we walk back into the light and once again feel the warmth of the sun and the comfort of a cool breeze.
Have a blessed Friday,
Pastor Jayne