Father’s Faithfulness
April 8, 2024 was a day of excitement and anticipation.
We gathered snacks, drinks, blankets, and of course our special glasses in preparation for the day. As we traveled to our destination point, where we were going to picnic, we passed many homes with driveways full of vehicles. Everybody was getting together with the people they love to experience this wonder together. I remember saying “I just love it when people come together!'
We reached our little grassy corner overlooking the Lake, we spread out our blankets and had a seat. There was a small crowd of people already waiting and a few more rolling in. We would wave friends over as we saw them pull in. What a wonderful time to be together.
As we waited we heard someone call out, “It's starting!”.
We all put on our “special glasses” and looked up at the sun. Sure enough, although small and subtle, we could see a piece of the moon start to enter the sun's pathway.
The eclipse was beginning!
At this point nothing really felt any different in the atmosphere. Everything was still bright and sunny.
After a little while the air started to feel a little eerie, like a subtle blanket of shade was starting to come over us. The air seemed to get a bit colder. We glanced up at the sun again with our special glasses and we could see a larger portion was now covered.
The moon slowly crept over until we were at the brink of total darkness. The air was quite a bit colder now and everyone seemed full of anticipation. We watched the last of the sun get covered as everything fell into total darkness.
Then the coolest thing happened. Everyone began to cheer.
What an amazing sound in the echoey darkness. We admired the beautiful wonder as we gazed into the sky. Such an awesome thing to experience.
The moon slowly passed over and the sunlight started to peek out from the other side. Things started slowly getting brighter and we started to gather our things. What an awesome adventure.
Psalm 19:1 says “The heavens declare the Glory of God, the sky above proclaims His handiwork”
This reminded me of God's promise to us. His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us, even in our darkest times. It brought me to Psalm 23. We sat down on green pastures by the water. It was a beautiful restful place to be. We were surrounded by people who understood and knew what we were going through.
As the eclipse progressed, the sun never went away, it was merely blocked from our sight at the moment. It was dark and cold but we were not going to stay there. As the crowd cheered in total darkness it reminded me of Romans 5:3-5 where Paul says we can rejoice in our suffering because it produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
1 Peter 4:12-13 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
We were told this was going to happen. We were not surprised. We also did not wonder if the sun was going to come back out again after a time of darkness.
What a beautiful picture of God's promise to us.
Sometimes when we find ourselves in a time of darkness we can feel alone and abandoned. This is when we can hold onto God's incredible faithfulness in bringing us through it. These are sacred times where we are being prepared for His glory to be revealed and we can rest in knowing that He will bring us through it.
The light will return and we will be able to see the sun again.