Sitting in the sun, thinking about the Son

"the Lord God is a sun and shield"

Psalm 84:11

This day started off as my favorite kind of weather ~ foggy, gloomy and chilly  :)   We don't get that kind of day very often where I live, so I enjoy them greatly when they come!

The view from my back door

So I dressed for cloudy and cool.  I knew it wouldn't be like that all day ~ the forecast was for warm-ish and sunny, but the morning was cool, and I knew it would be cold in church, so that's what I dressed for.

Sure enough, the weather was quite a bit warmer by the time we were done having lunch with my in-laws.  That would have been fine if we were going right home, but we had to run an errand first.  And running an errand would have been fine, but I chose to wait in the car with the kids while the Apple of my Eye ran in to pick up the part we needed to fix the washing machine.  And waiting in the car would have been fine, but there was a really long line.  And having to wait while the hubby was in a really long line would have been fine, but the car was in the sun.  And waiting in a car that was sitting in the sun, while the hubby waited in a long line, to pick up a part we needed to fix the washing machine, was not fine.   I hate sitting in the sun.

The temperature outside was not bad.  If I'd been sitting in the shade where I could feel the breeze, I would have been fine.  And if I hadn't had a sweater on, I would have been fine.  But the factors of direct sun, no breeze and dressed inappropriately affected how comfortably I could handle the situation.

As I sat there in the hot car, I got to thinking about relativity.  Albert Einstein once famously said, "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour.  Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.  That's relativity."  Any one of those factors ~ the temperature, the sun, the car, the sweater, the waiting ~ would have been no big deal, but relative to each other, it was uncomfortable.

So here's my point.  Anything difficult in our lives is.... well, difficult.  Headaches, traffic, schedules, dentist appointments, sick kids, overtime, bills, broken washing machines, etc.   Each one of those things is an inconvenience or a hardship that we have to get through.  And most of us have the inner strength to handle those things.

The trouble is when we have several issues at once.  Having to sit through traffic, when you have a headache, on your way to pick up your sick child, is a recipe for stress.  Now add to that, concern about a terminally ill parent, or a struggling marriage, or a rebellious teen-ager, and you might have a difficult time finding peace or joy in your life.

Everything is relative.  So if we want our problems to seem smaller, we need to hold them next to something bigger.  And that "bigger" is God.  He is stronger than our weaknesses; wiser than our foolishness.  He's got solutions to our problems, and for those problems He wants us to walk through, He is the source of joy and faith to get us through.  But you have to have Him in your life.  You have to read His Word to hear from Him, and you have to pray to talk to Him.

It's your choice.  Walk with Him, or walk alone.  But I promise you, your view of life will be better if He's at your side.

~ "The peace of God, 

which transcends all understanding, 

will guard your heart and your mind 

in Christ Jesus" ~

Philippians 4:7