April is known as the month it rains. “April showers” and all of that. But I have found, it doesn’t have to be April to have a string of rainy days. Or, that it even needs to be raining for it to pour.
Life has a way of happening all at once.
Sometimes, the big and wonderful things seem to gush into our lives at one time. Like the year I started dating my husband. I fell in love, went to two glorious foreign countries, climbed a mountain, and got engaged by Christmas. It was a fantastic year. Only, it was nothing like the years before it.
Sadly, life doesn’t just pour the good things. As I’m sure you too have experienced, I’ve had equally hard years. Whole seasons, where there was more character building than comfort, more loss than gain, and more tears than smiles. As much as we work to find it, balance doesn’t seem to be life’s strong point. A couple of weeks ago, we were reminded of this.
A string of lesser, yet unexpected life events seemed to snow ball into one week. Our car was vandalized. Then we went to pick it up from being repaired, and there were two awful scrapes in the door that weren’t there when we dropped it off. Another night, I badly burned my hand while making dinner, and the stinging pain kept me from doing things I needed to get done. A few other things happened as well. Then, on top of all that, light bulbs in our apartment just started randomly blowing; because, why not?
Sure, in the scheme of things, that week was a series of tiny thunderstorms on a day you’d forgotten your umbrella. It was nothing compared to the monsoons other people were dealing with, or the hurricane’s we’ve had in other seasons.
Still, the week sucked.
It could be the storyteller in me, but when things like this happen, my first response is to always look for their meaning. To find a reason for why bad things happen. People who believe in Karma would say we must have done something bad. Fellow Christ followers might say Jesus is trying to get our attention, which sometimes I have found to be true. Some things are meant to slow us down and make us look more closely at our lives. But this time?
I couldn’t find a reason.
Other than the fact that we live in an imperfect world, and life is hard. That week, I found myself praying while driving in my car, doing the dishes, in the middle of writing—well, basically anytime things started to feel too much. Then thankfully, the week ended.
A few days later, Tony and I were having lunch with some people we know. At one point our conversation turned and they started sharing how recently, a lot of hard things were happening to people they care about. Somewhere in the middle, we literally said that well worn saying,
“When it rains, it pours.”
We all have weeks or whole seasons where there is too much for us to carry. Times when it becomes painfully clear why we weren’t meant to do life alone. And situations that remind me how seriously I need God, because there is so much I can’t change or do on my own. For this reason, one of my favorite things Jesus ever said is,
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
(Matt. 11:28)
His rest is not a week in the Bahamas in the sun. Rather it is Him standing with us in the rain. It’s Him carrying the weight with and even for us. That awful week of the scraped car and burned hand, every time I prayed, I felt the tightening in my chest from stress loosen. He gave me peace even when things were unresolved. Jesus met me in the thunderstorms. He didn’t take them away. But He did bring me through.
When has it poured in your life?
Have you experienced Jesus meet you in the rain?
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Sometimes it is so hard to see Him moving when it’s raining. And it might not really even be raining, but the storm that you think is brewing causes panic—even if the storm misses you. Our Pastor reminded us today that our breakthrough is in our words and in our obedience. It’s been a great reminder to speak His word and look for Him in each moment—no matter how hard it is.
So true, Taylor. Sometimes, it isn’t until after the “rain” stops that we see He was with us all along!
I like that you wrote about the tiny thunderstorms. A lot of times when we talk about God being with us in the hard times, we think of the really big things, but we go through the tiny thunderstorms a lot more, and He cares about those, too!
“His rest is not a week in the Bahamas in the sun. Rather it is Him standing with us in the rain.” love this! I love picturing him standing in the rain with me. What a beautiful savior!