Sacred Silver Linings

There’s a cliché we’ve all heard at some point in our lives: “beneath every cloud is a silver lining.” I used to hear that as a child and even young adult, and it didn’t mean anything to me. I think the first time in my life I connected with that saying was years after the death of my dad.

His death was unexpected and I suffered great shock before I could ever begin my grief journey. I spent years unraveling and deconstructing the impact his death had on my twenty-seven year old self. My dad played a very active presence in my life – spiritually, emotionally and psychologically and losing him was like being cut off from my oxygen.

Over years, God began to show me things I had never seen before. As I soaked into memories, and began to move into a deeper dependency on God himself, I began seeing signs I could not see at earlier stages of my grief. For example, I would reflect over experiences with my parents, and recognized how years prior to his dying, God began to quietly and methodically draw my mom and I closer and closer to each other. In hindsight I could see how my relationship with my dad began to change from little girl to growing woman. God had begun disrupting routines and patterns preparing me for uncertain waters perfect for growing and maturing emotionally and spiritually. What’s so interesting is I could have never seen these things until after I had gone through them.

What I am conveying to you is that God is moving even when it feels like life has stopped. Even through the difficult times, there are linings of silver being woven through it.

Our lives are not a series of broken disjointed pieces but rather a continuous stitching of threads working toward a designated end. Using the loss of my dad as an example, I would have never wanted to lose my dad – ever. Yet, when I look at how losing him has impacted my life I can see ways it changed me for the good. I learned through his death how short life is, and how important it is to tell others how you feel about them and not treat relationships with anyone you love for granted. I learned about the continuous supernatural movement of God even when we are busy simply living life. I learned about the importance of putting affairs in order ahead of a crisis.

Apply this to your own life by reflecting this way:

When I went through _____________________ it felt like __________. Somehow through this experience I look back and can see how God was at the same time doing ______________________.