Do you not perceive it?

The older I get the more I realize first hand that the Christian life is not always sunny and 73 degrees, but filled with storms and darkness. Its true that our faith in Christ has been designed by God to give us happiness in life and in heaven. Experience in life shows that sometimes the sun is concealed and sometimes completely cloudy with a 100% chance a rain. April is one of my favorite months of the year. It kind of reminds me of the season that I am in right now. "April showers bring May flowers." I feel like I am in a season of cloudiness with 90% chance of rain all the time.

I used to pity myself and these seasons, but as Charles Spurgeon once said, "trials make us dig deep and teach us what we are made of." What if there was never a season of rain..there wouldn't be a season of growth. I will say I enjoy the season of being in the light, feeling/being in God's presence more and walking in green pastures beside quiet streams. Its more fun than walking through the desert or tasting salt water rather than spring water.

From first hand experience I have noticed that I and every other Christian I have met do not always experience perpetual prosperity no matter what Joel Osteen says. Psalm 137:1-2 "By the waters of Babylon there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres."

Everyone has experienced the sweet surrender to Christ's shepherding when we first give our life over to Him. It seems like as a newborn He protects us from the cold winds,wolves, etc, but as we grow stronger in our faith we have to enter a more mature and rougher spiritual journey/experience. We need these storms to experience our faith, our roots have to grow deeper in Christ. The difficult days reveal the true value of hope.

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea. a path in the mighty waters. . .Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." - Isaiah 43:16,19