Rain
I find it interesting, and surely not a coincidence, that during this week of our life the kids have been learning about Jesus the Rock and that their memory verse for this past week has been Matthew 7:25 “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock” (NASB).
As I sit and watch my kids play in the rain and happily make sand and mud pancakes and other concoctions I look down at my two year old daughter, covered in sand, a smile on her face, rain drizzling all over her. She looks up at me and sings “the rain came down and the floods went up”. She keeps singing and giggling and playing. I continue to reflect on our life, on how to better teach my children good character and pray for wisdom for God to help me point them closer to Him. I pray and praise God for my marriage and what amazing adventures with both sunshine and storms that He has brought my husband and I through these past 10 years. I praise Him because of how much closer we have grown not only to each other but to Him. We have faced many obstacles, troubles, tribulations and burdens in our last ten years of marriage. Yet through all of these we have gained a deeper love for the Lord, a stronger faith in Him, and a deeper unity as a couple.
Our family headed to the south of Thailand to check out/observe/and learn about ministry going on which could be a future ministry place for us. We decided to leave a couple days early and celebrate our ten year anniversary along the way. I was praying for a couple weeks before we left for this trip that not only would our eyes and hearts be open to ministry but it would also be a time to reflect and rejuvenate since we were away from our normal life. Within a day of our travels without getting into to much detail we were faced with a trial. My husband was hit by an underage unlicensed motorcycle driver while in our truck. Everyone is okay and safe, but the whole thing was a big ordeal costing us much time and money during our trip to the South.
Situations, and trials like this are not a new thing to us. They are very common in our life. It seems that we are almost constantly facing some sort of storm and even more often when we travel. It seems that we are often rained on and sometimes we literally are being rained on! In this past month alone here are some of the things that have happened: We had our truck break down on us while my husband was traveling in the mountains on his own, our youngest daughter broke her leg, all of our children had a stomach bug, I had a complication with my pregnancy, our middle daughter’s dog died but not just one dog but the second one she received after the first one died, our son seeing his neurologist and possibly narrowing down what type of epilepsy he has (this was exciting! but extra Dr.s appointments throw in the mix with the others), several problems with our electricity and water in our house (It is the rainy season in Thailand so it is common to loose power during a storm but our house has had some extra problems). These are a few of the “big things that went on in the month of July that were not apart of our “normal” routine. Yet in all of it there has been just as many joys and blessings! In all of it I have not felt worried, stressed or anxious.
As I continued to reflect on our life and the all trials we have faced just this past month I gathered the kids from playing in the rain so that I could get them some lunch. As we walk back to our house it begins to rain harder. As it covers my body I cant help but see the beauty in it and all the blessings around me. I could not help but feel both physically and spiritually refreshed from this rain. My children were not bothered by it and they continued to laugh and giggle. In the same way they are never bothered by the storms in our life but continue to find joy in all things. They bring to me great lessons and encouragement daily.
The Bible talks a lot about rain, and storms. In some passages of Scripture rain is prayed for and in others it is prayed to stop. I have to say that most the time in my life I have prayed more for the rain to stop. Both physical rain, I always viewed it to be a ruin to my day, and spiritual rain the times in my life when burdens and trials pour down on us.
I have learned to find the beauty in the rain, and take joy and hold on to it. I have been learning to praise God in the storm and seek to find the lessons he is teaching me and to submit to His discipline in it. During the storms of my life I have been learning those are the times of growth and I am at peace knowing that God is in control allowing all of these things to happen and His discipline shows me He loves me! Just like the rain it is so refreshing to know that in the hard times what I am going through is good because God cares for me (Hebrews 12:4-12)!
In Matthew 7:25 the rain was so hard and strong that it beat against the house yet the house did not fall because the house was built on the rock Jesus Christ. This is one of the foundational and “simple” stories we are taught as children at church yet how true is it and look at how much value it has upon our lives as adults.
If we build our lives (our house) on the rock (Jesus) it does not matter what storms come our way we are going to stand firm through Him as our strength.
My husband and I are often asked questions like “How do you do it”? “How do you handle that?” “How do you get through it”? “How can you still find joy or not be bothered by this”? Etc… The truth is I cant get through it or do it or even have joy and peace in it. I can do none of it on my own it is only through my Rock, Jesus Christ, that I stand on that gives me His strength. Often times He flies me right through burdens and honestly I do not blink an eye and I do not feel stressed over them. At other times He walks me right through them and I feel every bit of the pain yet I have a peace that passes all understanding. I can do nothing more than to lean on Him more.
I am not perfect and there are times when I have felt angry, mad, anxious, and nervous about my situations and trials. There are times I try to fix it myself and it only has shown how weak I am. It is the times that I stand on Him my rock and He is the one who carries me or walks with me through all things. He is the one who gives me strength (2 Corinthians 12:9-11).
I pray that you can find joy in your life even during the rainy times. I pray that you put your foundation on the Lord so that when rain comes you will not be moved but stand firm because you stand on Him and He is the one who holds you up. I pray that you can find joy in the nature and beauty all around you. That you can laugh at the everyday small things and learn lessons from life all around you. I find that you can see beauty in the trials, that you rejoice in them, knowing that these trials will give you strength and hope in Christ Jesus and deepen your faith, dependence and love for Him (Romans 5:1-5).
I leave you with these thoughts to think on. The sky is most clear after the storm. And nothing can grow without the rain watering it; what a marvelous way that God teaches us His truth.