Through Stormy Days

I don't know about you, but there are days when I'm just ready to quit.  I've had enough.  I can't take it anymore.  There are days when I'm just so tired of having to deal with what I've been handed out and I think to myself, why can't I just skip this part we call the earthly experience and go right on to eternity?  But then I sing songs like "Be Still My Soul", or I ponder art work aimed at Christ, or I read poems such as the one I have posted in this blog.

Some years ago I complained to a friend of mine that there must be something wrong with me, because the Lord hadn't really given me any difficult trials to overcome.  I kid you not, shortly after that, trial after trial started snowballing and hasn't stopped.  Be careful what you ask for!  But honestly, these trials, I am (in the end) grateful to have for two reasons.  One, because I know that the Lord must have tremendous faith in me and my abilities and what I can handle.  And Two, because they make me who I am.  They shape me.  They get me ready for the hereafter.  This poem is a help to me when I feel the need of words of comfort in especially down times.

What God Hath Promised

God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

by: Annie Johnson Flint