Call me crazy, but I love rainy days! The spring rainy season is my favorite time of year. That sense of nesting comes over me and I get to baking, painting or rearranging a room. I look forward to snuggling up under a warm blanket escaping into the Victorian days with an old British period film. Sometimes it’s just sitting by the window watching the rain splash on the sidewalk enjoying the sound. Rain is part of the wonderful symphony of nature. It is music to my ears, and just like Gene Kelly ("Singing in the Rain" – 1952), I start singing.
But like most people, the “rainy seasons of life” are not so pleasant for me, and the last thing I feel like doing is singing. I don't even feel like getting my head out from under that warm blanket.
Over the past couple of years, I have begun a deep study into creation through the Bible. We can learn much about our Creator as He uses nature in analogies all through scripture to teach and instruct, to encourage and strengthen, and give us hope – reminding us that the same One Who created us sustains and cares for us (Deuteronomy 32:2). Every bird (Matthew 6:26), blade of grass, flower, tree, sky, cloud, stars, and yes, even the rain remind me of His power, love, and protection. He is my Sustainer, Redeemer, Comforter, and Friend. I see Him everywhere I look.
" Shower, O heavens, from above,
And let the clouds rain down righteousness;
Let the earth open, that salvation and
righteousness may bear fruit;
Let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the LORD have created it."
Isaiah 45:8
I have learned to use the scriptures with analogies of creation to help me during difficult times. It has been easy to sing in the pleasant rains of spring but difficult in the rainy days of life. And yet, singing hymns, old and new, of thanksgiving and praise focused on His glorious attributes and works (through times of chronic pain, restless nights, flooding tears and heartache over a prodigal, a suffering child/grandchild or waiting hours to hear news that your husband's s brain surgery was successful), has been just the thing needed to go keep me going. It's praising my LORD with songs of praise that fills me with the HIS unfathomable, indescribable strength and peace!!! For it keeps my mind steady on the One Who not only created the "rains" but controls them. He knows just the right amount needed for growth. The very One Who created the rains is also my shelter through them!
"Let us know,
let us press on to know the LORD;
His going out is as sure as the dawn;
He will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains water the earth."
Hosea 6:3
Just as rainy seasons are needed for spring flowers, abundant harvest, good fruit, and even a beautiful fall, so those rainy seasons in our lives are needed to produce abundant crop and good fruit spiritually. Rain is necessary for all of life. Long torrential rain produces a run off that can nourish fields miles away. Those times of what seem a long season of rain are reaching many others’ lives, even for generations to come!
"Rain is referred to as a blessing after a drought, a symbol of God's love and teaching to spread over the world, and even as a flood to wash away the sins of a corrupt world” (Bible Study Tools Staff).
Click here to enjoy listening to: “How Can I Keep from Singing?”
Performed by Keith and Kristyn Getty
“No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I’m clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart
A fountain ever springing.
All things are mine since I am His
How can I keep from singing?”
May the Lord our God be exalted as we continue " Singing in the Rain!”
My dear friend…
Rache’l lives in Joplin, Missouri. She and her husband, Murray, have five children and nine grandchildren. She enjoys reading, journaling, and walks through the woods, hills and along the creeks. Mostly, she treasures spending time with her precious grandchildren. (The pictures are of Murray, the man of God who walks beside Rache'l in life's journey, and his faithful companion, Remington.)
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