The light, gelid rain started falling as I reached the bottom of the street.
“I’m glad I decided to wear a hat,” I thought. “Oh, Spring, when will you arrive?”
I looked up and around, thinking of how much I dislike rainy days. The trees, bare since the Fall, looked like props in an Alfred Hitchcock movie set. “All we lack is flocks of black birds descending upon me,” I said to myself.
My family knows it. I’m fueled by sunshine. Give me the sun shining outside and I am a happy camper. But rainy, foggy and cold days find me gloomy and unenergetic.
Boo, Winter!
My heart’s attitude took a turn the second the rain started falling. I had been praying, as I usually do during my morning walks, interceding on behalf of friends and family, praising God for His goodness and faithfulness. My heart was singing, in spite of the gloom of the day. Until.that.first.drop.of.rain.
Sigh.
We’re so fickle, aren’t we? Humans, that is.
Have you ever woken up with a great attitude, ready to start your day and, boom! Something (or someone) happens, and your mood takes a 180.
It could be something as little as finding crusty dishes in the sink… proof that your teenager does not pay attention or care for what you teach.
Or maybe it is your spouse… something he or she does or says that annoys the sunshine out of your soul.
Or maybe something happens, and you are reminded that the promise you have been patiently praying and waiting for is yet to be fulfilled.
Rain happens and we simply forget.
We forget that God is in the rain too. And that growing is a sub product of rainy days.
We forget that God is in the rain too. And that growing is a sub product of rainy days. #MondayMotivation #MondayDevotional Click To TweetWe forget that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control can only grow when we experience those moments where the opposite is offered…
It’s when we have our flesh screaming for vengeance that we can experience Fruit-of-the-Spirit kind of love… Or when darkness surrounds that we can experience super-natural peace and joy…
It is when our patience is tested that it can be perfected… together with self-control and gentleness…
And when relationships fall short that we are able to choose Holy-Spirit-generated faithfulness… and long-suffering.
It’s true… as much as I dislike those rainy days of the soul… it is during those moments and through those situations that God is working, preparing the soil for the harvest.
As I started worshiping God, my heart’s attitude changed. I slowed down my steps and took off my hat. When I looked up to a neighbor’s tree, I smiled. My favorite… a dogwood tree. Its branches were filled with the buds of the flowers which will grace our neighborhood in a month or so.
The day was still dreary, but my heart’s attitude changed. I started thanking God for the rain, for it is during these winter rainy days that nature gets the nourishment it needs to bring forth Spring. Just as it was during the rainy winters of my life that God was preparing the harvest beneath the ugly surface of pain.
And so today, as I walked through the ugly, wet sights of my neighborhood, God reminded me again…
Were it not for the rain…
Were it not for the darkness of uncertainty and not knowing where the money would come from… I would not be able to stand and testify – God truly provides! Supernaturally provides!
Were it not for the tough days of cancer, days of physical and emotional pain… I would not be able to stand and declare – Jehovah indeed heals!
Were it not for the days of loneliness and loss… I would not know that Jesus can indeed be my all in all.
Does it feel like your winter will never end, my friend? Does it feel like you are drowning in the rain?
Lift up your eyes and tell your heart to praise the Rain-Maker! Remind your heart that it is during these dreary, dark days, that He is preparing the soil, preparing you, to bloom again! Click To Tweet“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:9-11
After reading this, Patricia, I’ll never look at those gloomy, rainy days in a negative light. Thanks for the inspiration!
Blessings!
You are welcome, Martha! Have a blessed week!
Love your blog, Patricia!! Just as the Lord created seasons, He also allows seasons in our lives that may be unpleasant at best. But it is so we can step into His SONshine, and learn to continually trust and love Him unconditionally!! May the Lord abundantly bless you in your ministry. I thank you for all your prayers over me, as well!!
You are so welcome, Jennifer! Will continue to pray for you. I know you have had many “rainy seasons” and have always found a way to shine Jesus’ light through it all. You are an example of faithful woman of God.
Blessings to you, my sister!
I share this perspective. So all I can say is Amen.
Thanks, Nylse! Blessings to you!
Great message Patricia. Like everything God brings, causes or allows, it is for our good and His glory. The “rain” keeps us growing just as the trees, growing in the knowledge of Him; Who He is, who we are and whose we are. As you blessed me with this message, may He greatly bless you, your incredible family and your ministry.