It’s been raining onto the earth and onto people’s lives, and often when it rains around here, if floods. Things start off ‘spitting’: drops of rain falling on the car windshield, not yet wet enough to turn the wipers on, but distracting enough that you wish it would stop. As I’m driving, I come past a lake. Yesterday it was smooth and clear and you could see the sea birds lined up along the jetty, drying themselves in the warm sunlight as it poured down.
By now the rain is heavier though and I turn the windscreen wipers on so I can see. I pull over to look out across the lake, noticing that this time fat drops of rain are falling from the storm above, disturbing the serenity that was there before. The ripples caused by the drops bump into one another and the wind picks up…when it rains here, the landscape is changed.
Even if it continues to rain for days on end though, I know that the sun must reveal itself again at some point. When it does, it will show the debris that has been washed ashore in the storm. It will also dry up the soft ground and encourage new life in the places where things may have been torn up or destroyed.
With this, I wonder if we are much different? We each have our own storms in life, whether they are physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. We can look out across the landscape of our lives and wish for a point in time where things were ok and it wasn’t storming. Where the raindrops didn’t cause ripples through our days and teardrops didn’t fall in front of us. Things get rough and we wonder if there will ever again be a time where we can laugh or smile or jump sincerely. Maybe we can take hope from God and His creations though – we are always promised sunshine after rain and, while it hurts so much right now, maybe you will be able to use these experiences in the future to help shine His light and encourage growth in those around you. The great news is that often we don’t need to go through the storms alone either…when we look, God has placed people around us to help us through. If we can trust Him, and trust those who will cry with us, the rain might not lessen, but our burdens may be lighter to carry. It can be a whole lot more fun to jump in puddles with a friend, than to step in them alone.
By now the rain is heavier though and I turn the windscreen wipers on so I can see. I pull over to look out across the lake, noticing that this time fat drops of rain are falling from the storm above, disturbing the serenity that was there before. The ripples caused by the drops bump into one another and the wind picks up…when it rains here, the landscape is changed.
Even if it continues to rain for days on end though, I know that the sun must reveal itself again at some point. When it does, it will show the debris that has been washed ashore in the storm. It will also dry up the soft ground and encourage new life in the places where things may have been torn up or destroyed.
With this, I wonder if we are much different? We each have our own storms in life, whether they are physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. We can look out across the landscape of our lives and wish for a point in time where things were ok and it wasn’t storming. Where the raindrops didn’t cause ripples through our days and teardrops didn’t fall in front of us. Things get rough and we wonder if there will ever again be a time where we can laugh or smile or jump sincerely. Maybe we can take hope from God and His creations though – we are always promised sunshine after rain and, while it hurts so much right now, maybe you will be able to use these experiences in the future to help shine His light and encourage growth in those around you. The great news is that often we don’t need to go through the storms alone either…when we look, God has placed people around us to help us through. If we can trust Him, and trust those who will cry with us, the rain might not lessen, but our burdens may be lighter to carry. It can be a whole lot more fun to jump in puddles with a friend, than to step in them alone.
