RAIN-WIND-FOG....

Cape Foulweather, Oregon

On December 20th I drove to Newport to take my Tax Preparers Exam.  It was a grueling five hour exam that I really did not feel prepared for!  By the time I finished it, my brain was fried and I was really tired.  I got up once or twice, just to walk around and clear my brain and try to relax.  It was during one of the breaks that I looked out the window and watched a rainstorm brewing.

I finished my exam, both exhausted and exhilarated (because it was over), and forged my way home in what turned out to be an awful storm.  On my way home, going over the Cape, I was blinded by the rain, wind and fog that made my path difficult.   (Cape Foul Weather is aptly named because of the terrible storms there that in the early days of Oregon, before lighthouses, many a ship blinded by the storms found themselves on the rocks).  It was very hard for me to see the road, let alone maneuver the bends in it.

As I was driving through this mean storm, my thoughts turned to the storms of my life.  Some days it seems like the "rain" falls so hard on me that I can't see the path ahead.  Sometimes I just have to get a little wet to appreciate what it was like when I was dry.  There are days when I just want to stay indoors and let the storm pass.  

Like the rain, the "fog" obstructs our view and I wonder if I am going to ever get through it.  Try as I may, my brain is clouded up and trying to see through the fog there seems like an impossibility.  Throw the "wind" into the mix and you get sideways rain which obstructs the view even more.  There are days in my life when I cannot see the end of the path...I cannot hold myself upright because of the wind in my face, and the rain drives at me with such a force that I wonder, "What is it all about?"

And then there are the "tests".  We came to this earth to be tested...there is no way to escape it.  I went into my test feeling unprepared this morning and found a calm there because I had included the Lord in my preparation and He was there with me.  So it is with my life's tests.  He never leaves my side, because I invite Him to be a part of my life.  I know that as I go through these storms of my life, there will be a calm at the end.

The Lord sent His Comforter to be with all of us through our storms in life.  He promised that if we would always include Him in our daily activities, He would be there for us.  Today, I think I am even more grateful for His presence in my life to get me through the RAIN, the WIND, the FOG and the TESTS.

A Storm on the Oregon Coast

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..."  (Psalm 23)