Love in the Rain

In the middle of a storm, literally and figuratively, I remember saying "I like what the rain produces, but not the rain itself."

Funny thing, isn't it? To want to reap the benefits and beauty of the rain, but not want to sit through the rain? I wish. How much easier life would be if we just reaped the benefits of storms without actually going through them? But it's actually in sitting through the storm that reaps the benefits. The growth, the flowers, the fruit, the testing of roots and foundations. Storms are necessary for life. Storms reveal signs of life. Rain shows what's alive by what grows and what doesn't. It's the most vulnerable place to be. It unveils all of our greatest strengths, but most of all, our greatest weaknesses. It reminds us of our humanity and need for God. It's in the storm that all layers of protection and fake are stripped back and you are left with the raw, real you. The truth of where and who and what you turn to is on full display. It's not a question of if, but when. When the storms come, what will people say about you? What will they see you're anchored to? Everyone places their hope in certain anchors in the middle of storms.... most of these anchors hold momentarily, but not permanently. In fact, while it may seem like the anchors of this world will hold you up, they actually sink you faster.

Back to "I like what the rain produces, but not the rain itself." I am obsessed with the freshly bloomed flowers that come with spring. But they require a lot of rain, mixed with their fair share of sunshine, but they can't grow with only the sun. Similarly, we would never grow if we never lived through storms or hard seasons of life. If it were up to us, we'd choose the good seasons of life over and over again. The seasons that didn't stir questions about our faith or God's goodness. That didn't stir us to choose if we would run to God or away from Him. We would choose the "sunshine" seasons. No one likes going through hard times. It's exhausting in every way: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It's frustrating. It's painful. It feels like an eternity. One thing I've been leaning into lately is the reality of how little control we actually have over our lives and while it may drive me crazy sometimes, I couldn't be more grateful. We would choose sunshine seasons. We would choose the comfortable places. We would choose the safest and easiest routes. Little do we know, that sometimes those choices would lead to our unraveling, our ending, our dying. People say "there is such a thing as too much of a good thing." The sunshine, the easy, the comfortable, those things are good. But they are not places that are sustainable for life on their own. As I said earlier, flowers bloom, and fruit grows with a mix of sunshine and rain. Just as a plant needs both to thrive, so do we. I'm grateful that while there are certain areas of control I do have, that ultimately, the Lord determines my steps. He will stretch me and guide me and allow things to happen in life that are hard, not out of anger or spite, but out of love. And I say that having sat at the table with seemingly impossible situations, having gone through hard seasons, and still having my fair share of difficult times. But through it all, through every heartache, frustration, fear, confusion, stress, I can look back in confidence and see His love through the shattered moments. I can look back and see how much every one of those harder moments shaped me and molded me and changed me to be a better version of the woman He has created me to be. How every one of those moments has led me to the life I get to live today. I don't know what sort of storm you might be walking through or that might be coming up for you, but remember, these moments help us thrive in the long run. It's not easy in the midst of it, but eventually we reap the benefits. We grow. We become stronger. Our roots grow deeper. Our foundation is solidified. We bear fruit that's sweeter and healthier. The very seasons that make us feel like every day we are striving lead us to seasons of thriving. But be mindful of where we turn to satisfy our striving in the storms. As long as we turn to the Lord and strive for Him and aim to glorify Him through it all, thriving will always be the result. The Lord offers nothing but ABUNDANT life (John 10:10). So yes, I like what the rain produces, but not the rain itself. But I will never be ungrateful for the rain. It's always growing something in me, whether I want it to grow or not, the Lord knows my weaknesses and my strengths. He gives us the storms necessary to improve our weaknesses through His strength.

"On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”"

-Mark 4:35-41

The guidance to the other side and the provision in the storm that He probably knew was coming. He does the same thing for us. He cares for you, but even here, He used the storm as a lesson. He used it to grow His disciples in ways that they needed. Praise God He never changes and does the same thing for us.