Choosing the Sonshine Despite the Rain
Genesis 39:21- "But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison" (NASB).
Monday did not go as planned, and as a planner and type-A personality, the struggle was real. I planned on taking the kids to the park after breakfast, so they could play while I ran. However, we woke up to rain. We were all disappointed with the rain but decided to make the best of it. After breakfast and homework/sight words, I took the kids to McDonald's to play and get energy out. As we were getting ready to leave, I noticed Samantha's foot was swollen and a little red, but it wasn't bothering her, so I didn't mention it to her and just made a mental note to keep an eye on it. While the kids played at McDonalds, I completed my daily Bible study. I was studying Genesis 39, and verse 21 caught my eye: "But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison" (NASB). Joseph was in prison- far from the ideal scenario and his plan for his life, but God extended kindness and allowed him to find favor despite his terrible situation. I thought about that all day- God giving us favor even in bad situations, events, and circumstances.
If we fast-forward through the rest of my day, the rain eventually stopped, and we were able to go to the park. After the park, we ran to the Post Office. While there, we happened to run into a crazy- I'm not really sure what the issue was but it appeared drugs may have been involved, and the individual was off their rocker. I prayed the entire time we were at the post office to let the crazy leave before we left, but that wasn't the case. While I hurriedly got the kids in the car, the individual came over to me and began talking. Luckily, I was able to get the kids in the car and locked the door before the person made it to my car. As I stood outside the car and talked with the individual, God blessed me with the opportunity to share the gospel and invite this person to church. I just got a blank stare and then they walked away. I quickly got back into the car and realized the car was slow to cranking. Not thinking much about it, I drove on to the church for Samantha's ballet rehearsal. After ballet, I went to crank the car, and it wouldn't start. As I was troubleshooting, I looked in the mirror and Samantha's foot caught my eye; it was more swollen and red and it was starting to spread up her leg. I called Matthew, and thankfully he was already on his way and almost at the church. We discovered it was my starter, and realized my car needed to be towed to the mechanic. After dealing with the car, we decided to take Samantha to urgent care. I dreaded urgent care because there is always a long wait. However, I walked in and there was not a single person waiting. By the time I arrived, her foot was worse and was running a fever. The doctor quickly came in, decided it was an allergic reaction, gave her some medicine, and also called her in a steroid. We were in and out of urgent care within 30 minutes. By then it was late, so we rushed in and ate dinner, got baths, and got the kids in bed.
As I sat down and processed the day, I was so frustrated. The day didn't go as planned, Samantha's foot scared me and took us to urgent care, my car was torn up, and it had to be towed. All in all, my day brought about $500 extra expenses that I didn't plan for- just lovely right? BUT as frustrated as I was, I couldn't help but think about Genesis 39:21 and put my name and scenario there:
But the Lord was with Courtney and extended kindness to her and gave her favor. Although my day didn't go as planned, God was with me and gave me favor: my kids were able to enjoy playing at McDonalds AND the park, I was able to still run despite the morning downpour, I was able to witness to someone and invite them to church, my car quit at church and Matthew was there within minutes (what better place for my car to quit than church??), the towing process was a breeze, the mechanic said he could fix my car the next day, urgent care was a ghost town and we were in and out within 30 minutes, Samantha's diagnosis was positive, and Matthew just so happened to get paid his stipend for teaching fire school, so the unexpected expenses were covered. All I could see was God extending kindness and favor to me in what I thought was a crappy situation but, in all reality, it could have been way worse.
Friends, God is good and shows us kindness and favor each day. However, Satan does his best to try and make us miss the blessings and favor we receive from our Heavenly Father each day. Did I want all those things to happen? Absolutely not. Did it feel more like rain than sunshine? Yes. But was I able to see God's kindness and favor despite the unexpected things of the day? Yes. Even when it rains unfortunate events in our lives, if we stop and look, we can see the Sonshine or rays of light from Father.
Next time your day is rough and unexpected things arise, I challenge you to find the Sonshine despite the rain.
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You are absolutely right. Like the song says "There was Jesus!". Despite health issues, rescheduling, and uncertainty I still know He's there working all things for my good. Thanks for obeying Our Father!