While watching an episode of “Planet Earth” one evening I was, for a moment, captivated by a large buffalo just hunkered down standing out on the frozen prairie in the middle of a snow storm? My first thought was, poor pathetic creature, nowhere to hide, just standing out there taking all that nature could unleash, without any cover in sight.

Sure he had that thick bison coat and hyde, but even the announcer admitted that the beast most likely would die if he didn’t find food to fuel that massive frame, underneath all that snow.

Thus in the midst of all this creatures misery I believe is a life lesson for all of us. In fact, this little 30 second snapshot had quite a bit to say to me and I hope I can convey its message.

What really struck me was that in nature, storms come and go. The bigger the tempest, the brighter the sun seems to shine on the other side.

Over the past several years, I’ve changed jobs several times, moved my family to a new city where we didn’t know anyone, lost my mother to cancer, had a son deploy to a hostile country, sent a daughter off to college in a big city and endured hardship in my marriage as we navigated through all of this stuff. At times it was hard and sometimes it was just flat out painful, economically, emotionally, spiritually, but there have been many good times too. The seasons have come and gone, and so have the storms and sunshine.

Sometimes in life we get caught out in the open like the buffalo and all we can do is hunker down and take the beating. Maybe it’s something you caused yourself, but maybe not, perhaps it just a random accident or circumstance beyond your control. However, perseverance is what is called for and the storm will eventually pass and the sun will shine again.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” Jesus, John 16:33

Hope you have a great day!