The day was covered in clouds and haze blocked the brilliance of red-speckled hills whispering of autumn’s approach. “The most photographed place in Upstate New York, but today?” a man said looking at my camera. “You must be a professional.” He knew, as well as I, it was not the easiest day to find something worthy to capture and make a memory. After I convinced him of the amateur I was, I leaned against a tree and looked out across the colorless view.
This kind of day is the norm in life for some. Ones we don’t care to remember; absent of life-giving greens, sun warming yellows, and shape-shifting clouds that play across the sky. The kind where you strain just to see a bit in the distance, but the fog of pain, trials or uncertainties conceal the vineyards that cover the hills.
But in my heart, when these kinds of days come, I know God has told me, “This is the day I have made…” and I must decide if I will rejoice…even when I see nothing to rejoice in. I know that each day is a gift, though absent of any sensory pleasures, and I must ask for the Son to give me peace in its dullness, melody in monotony, contentment in grays, or grace for the absence of what used to bring such happiness.
And for the next 30 minutes, I saw textures and showed beauty I nearly missed by lack of color. I closed my eyes and listened to the bird’s songs, unaffected by the day’s appearance. And I was reminded of the verses below. May the Lord breathe life to you through the power of His word.
Exodus 15:2 “The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him…I will exalt him.”
Psalm 18:11 (YLT) “He makes darkness His secret place, round about Him His tabernacle, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.”
Psalm 97:2 (NKJV)” Clouds and darkness surround Him.”
