It is a cold, icy winter day here in NC. But far from a quiet one, because being trapped in a house with four children 7 and under is a lot. Like just about every day for the last 16 years, I laced up my shoes for a run. This is a habit, not out of necessity for fitness but for sanity. And not unlike previous runs, the Lord used this moment to speak to me.
I haven't had a chance to fix the noise coming from the treadmill and I'm not confident I wont mess it up by pounding away 4 miles on it at the moment. So, despite the freezing rain, I bundled up and took to the road. I have run in worse weather before. I have been known to put on a swim suit, shorts and goggles heading out to run in the middle of a hurricane. I have layered pants and shirts to run in the snow with every step being a challenge to keep my footing. This run, in freezing rain, while not ideal today, was not new to me.
The first two miles were quiet, the silence of an ice storm unfolding surrounded me. There were no cars driving by, no birds out chirping, no kids playing in driveways or laughter spilling from their backyard to the passerby on the road. It was just me, the road, the pitter patter of the rain, my breathing and the whistle of the wind as it rudely blew against me. If I am being honest, the weather largely matched how I have been feeling lately. I have been in a funk of sorts since Halloween.
Maybe it is adjusting to four children, maybe its the pandemic finally reaching its claws into my spirit and slowly chipping away at me. Maybe, its just me in a season where I should be leaning on the Lord more than I have been. Either way, I have been off. The cold wind nipping at my face was refreshing, the tingling burn of my toes as I splashed through ice cold puddles pushing forward with each step was welcomed. The sting of nearly freezing rain pelting my exposed skin kept me in the moment. I was not thinking of the next task ahead, the grocery list, the preschool pick up line, the homeschool assignments. None. Of. It.
As I ran, I welcomed the cold seeping to my bones because it kept me focused. It wasn't until I had half a mile left that this trance of sorts gave way and the reflection on the road caught my eye. I was running in a neighborhood with newly paved roads. The asphalt looked like glass as the rain spread across it. Each step caused a slight splash and the road reflected the trees and sky above. It was like looking into a lake, a mirror right there on the road. It was the first time I felt how cold my toes were starting to get and yet I was transfixed by the image reflecting before me.
The reflection in the road didn't show the grey clouds, the bitter wind or the way winter seemed to be clinging to everything it touched. It didn't show the trees bending beneath the weight of the ice forming upon them. It showed a bright clear sky, no clouds, and not a bright blue sky, I am not crazy! The reflection didn't portray the true color of the sky but a bright grey or soft blue of sorts. When I looked down, cold, wet, heaving from running, I saw a beautiful clear sky, green trees and what looked like tons of space between. It was like laying down on your back on a clear summer day. Except, it was pouring a bitter cold rain, the wind nipped at my nose and cheeks, my feet were soaked and sounding heavier by the minute, my toes ached and my gloves were now wet enough to no longer keep anything warm.
And that is when God spoke.
Even in the storm, while being trampled on by me, with the rain coming down, the cold surrounding it, the weight of the world forming on everything within reach, the road reflected Gods beauty, His light, His grace.
The Lord said to me "be the reflection".
In these times of polarized tribalism, thesis vs antithesis, left vs right — be the reflection.
When you are looking down, being trampled on, cold, tired, soaked in disappointment, weighed down by the burden of life, even then, be the reflection of love, light and grace.
The Lord filled my heart with the undeniable truth that it is in times of sorrow that joy has the most impact. It is moments when you are overcome with stress, overwhelmed by the demands placed upon you, lost in the battle of the every day struggle that reflecting Him is most important. Like the road reflection that reminded me of His beauty and grace, my own heart reflection is the beacon of light leading others to Him.
I stopped running shortly after that, pulled a fallen branch off of the sidewalk I was now on, and took in the silence of the afternoon. If in the middle of the ice storm the Lord warmed my soul and calmed my heart with a road reflection, surely so too could my heart reflection calm another.
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