We Need the Rain

I opened my eyes and saw the darkness out my bedroom window. “It’s still the middle of the night” I thought to myself. But then I heard people walking around in the hallway and checked the time. It was almost 7AM. I pulled myself out of bed and saw the downpour of rain outside and the stream of water that always seem to collect in our side yard during big storms that we called “the river.” Rainy days were especially hard during this period in my life when I was experiencing so much grief. The rain made me feel sad and depressed and unmotivated. How was I going to get through the day with no sunshine to help ease the pain of all these intense emotions?

I came downstairs to the kitchen and starting grinding the coffee beans, one of the very first things I do to start my morning. I started complaining to my mom about the rain and how it was making me feel sad. My very empathetic and understanding mother looked at me and said, “I know, but you know what, we really need it.” She went on to tell me that it had been weeks since we’ve had rain and the grass and flowers and plants were starting to dry up and this rain was really going to help them come alive again. I know she didn’t want a rainy day anymore than I did but saw the hope in her eyes when she knew that it would help the grass and flowers grow.

10 out of 10 times I would choose a beautiful sunny summer day over a rainy day. But making it through a day or two of darkness and rain would end up helping the grass and flowers and plants and gardens grow into something beautiful.

And I realized this can apply to our very own lives as well and certainly applied to what I was going through in that time of my life. I would never choose to go through the pain I was experiencing. I would 10 out of 10 times always choose happiness and love over feelings of grief and hurt. But I knew that this deep pain was going to turn into something beautiful some day. I didn’t know what that would look like, but I trusted that choosing to walk through the pain with hope and giving thanks to Him for the small blessings along the way would help me be able to see the beautiful things. I could already tell that God was taking all the broken pieces of me that had shattered over the past few weeks and was rebuilding me and as horrible as the process was, it was also beautiful. Even just the thought of realizing that what I thought would destroy or even kill me was not and in fact it was making me a stronger, braver, more resilient woman who sees God’s goodness in the midst of pain and suffering.

So, just as the rainy days may be hard they are helping something beautiful grow, so are you. There are days that will be hard, but God is making something beautiful out of you!