Unexpected Beauty

The day was cloudy and dreary. Our plane was taxing to the runway, pilots were revving up the engines for takeoff, while my thoughts and emotions matched the heaviness of the weather surrounding us. December is an emotionally difficult month for me and always has been ever since I was a little girl. Throughout the years (I am now 77 years old), I have tried to understand the weight of dreaded feelings that start to overwhelm me immediately following Thanksgiving. Perhaps December holds too much anticipated excitement. Christmas, Advent, the winter solstice, even my birthday is in the month of December, and on the 31st of the month, we say goodbye to another year, which stings of melancholy. Then, like the plane lifting off the ground and into the sky, we head into another year of the unknown, leaving behind memories, some good, some bad to start all over again.

Although most people probably have a different experience during December, many of my friends reading this devotion understand precisely my experience on a personal level. Regardless of our emotions, how we feel or however the climate of our lives may appear, God has a surprise for us.

After takeoff, our plane made the bumpy lift through the thick clouds. Rain drops rolled into straight lines across the windowpanes. The steep climb began to level off. Suddenly, like mountains of snow, we were gliding across the clouds instead of passing under them, and sunshine so bright permeated the sky. Like the plane and just as suddenly, my countenance lifted from feeling the weight of gloominess to knowing that my present and future circumstances rest in the hands of the One Who not only holds the Sun in place but also allows the rain to fall. God wrapped Himself in the flesh of a human baby to be born into the world, therefore, we have a Savior who understands both our joy and our pain. Jesus came to bring hope as seen through the wonder of His eternal eyes; the One Who from the beginning not only knew your story and mine, but He also wrote it.

And Wonders of His love,
And Wonders of His love,
And Wonders, Wonders of His love.
(Joy To The World, written by Isaac Watts, 1719)

 

“The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” Psalms 65:8, NIV.