Dance in the Rain
by Brandy Webb
I need to learn to dance in the rain because life is all about showers here and there. Right now, we are currently in at least the twelfth week of rain. It hasn’t rained every day, but it has rained ever week. How do I know? Well, my family and I finally bought a house, and it has been ready for us structurally, since January. All that needs completed now are the utilities. We do have electric and most of the septic finished, but the rain has halted any more progress. We can’t even drive back to the house because the ground is so saturated we will get stuck. Trust me, I know personally; so does my mother-in-law.
I am allowing the rainy, gloomy, dreary, muddy days to dampen my mood. It is affecting me emotionally and, quite frankly, spiritually. It is hard not to get frustrated when you pray for sunlight and you wake up to pouring rain. I wish I could send this rain to the drought affected areas of Texas, Arizona, California, and anywhere else that needs it. But, unfortunately, I don’t have that power. I realize, though, that this is just another one of life’s trials, and if I just calm down and trust God, I’ll probably learn a lesson in all of this. One major one would be patience.
Life is all about trials, it seems. I heard it said that we are in one of three different places when it comes to trials. We are either about to go through one, in one, or just completed one. Why is that? Well, my simple answer is, to help us grow. God already tried the experiment of “if you listen to me you will be blessed; if you don’t you won’t” with Israel. We see how that worked out.
I believe it is kind of like the difference of giving a brand-new sports car to a sixteen year-old versus making the sixteen year-old work for his or her car. One didn’t really earn it, so the sense of taking care of it diminishes (maybe not with all teens, but the ones I knew as a teen fit this). The other worked for it, and even if she only covers part of the cost, she still has a sense of responsibility and a desire to take care of her car.
Well, maybe it works the same way in our spiritual walk. If we were just handed the Kingdom of God on a silver platter, we may not appreciate it. When we have to work for it and grow spiritually, we will know how blessed we truly are when we enter the Kingdom of God. Don’t we enjoy the reward more after we have suffered a little to receive it? Isn’t it better when we know that it wouldn’t happen without God’s help and intervention? This may seem rather an elementary explanation, but it is how I explain it to myself. Just think how much joy you have when you finally come out of a trial.
I know it is hard when we are enduring a trial because “deferred hope maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Prov 13:12). This scripture has helped me a lot because it makes me realize that it is okay if I get down when I’m facing a trial. It lets me know that God understands. He knows that our hearts may get sick with waiting for a trial to end, but He also knows that when it does end, we refill with life again and are healed.
Now, my trial of non-stop rain isn’t really a bad trial to go through, and I understand that there are trials that people are facing today that go beyond my comprehension. Yet, we must understand, despite the severity of the trial, we are not alone. We have a Savior that not only suffered trials and tribulations, He even warned us that we would also suffer, but “take heart; [He has] overcome the world” (John 16:33). With His help, we can overcome the world, also.
Therefore, “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer,” and trust in God (Rom 12:12). Don’t lose heart because some, if not most, of our trials are a testing of our faith making us stronger in endurance and patience (Rom 5:3; James 1:3). However, after we “have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called [us] to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish” us (1 Pet 5:10). Always remember, that the “sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). And take heart, there are many before us that have endured, suffered, persevered, and fought the good fight of faith, and some of them have left us their wisdom in the Bible to help us get through the dark days. So, turn to the Word of God, and take refuge in it, for we are not alone.