Luke 19:37-44: Sunshine and rain.(please click here for todays passage)

Recently, the good-natured British have been laughing about the ‘Spring’ weather in the UK. In the space of one week we seemed to experience all the seasons! Similarly, in a Christian’s life the ‘weather’ can be mixed. One day we are in the sunshine; the next we are standing in the pouring rain. In fact, it can all come together on the same day. This particular day in the life of  Jesus was one in which He encountered great joy (37-40), and wept bitter tears (37-40). These two emotions are regularly found in close proximity in a believer’s life.

At the heart of the Old Testament there lies a hymn book – the Psalms. Someone said that ‘whereas all Scripture speaks to us, the psalms speak for us.’ In them we feel a full range of emotions and we discover that we can be honest with God. The life of faith will have times of exuberant joy, but there will also be seasons of lament to navigate. We don’t have to pretend that troubles won’t come, or put on an act to mislead others about how we truly feel. Somebody once told me that for a time, they attended a church where it was one constant victory roll. No-one was expected to say or show that they were down. That, at least, was how they understood the requirements of belonging. There was an unwritten rule that said, ‘Smile all the while.’ Such a scenario is emotionally dishonest, and surely no-one reading the psalms can imagine that God expects anyone to live like that? In genuine Christian fellowship we remove masks; we don’t play a part.

There is ‘a time to mourn and a time to dance…’ Ecclesiastes 3:4.

So Christians know the need to carry a brolly!