Sunshine in the Rain

The sun in the rain

This blog is dedicated to my two best friends in the entire world. You guys know you are. I love you two so much, and when those tears run down your face, part of me breaks. I love you.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Today, the sun was shone brightly and beak down on my back. The birds sang cheerfully and there was just the perfect amount of wind; it was a near perfect day. While the sky was bright and cheerful, off to the west lingered ominous looking clouds. I looked up at the sky and whispered a prayer, “thank you Lord for this beautiful day.” No sooner had I said those words, a loud clap of thunder shook the ground I was walking on. The thunder was so loud and powerful, it kinda scared me. The day was starting to seem more bitter-sweet than anything with those dark clouds looming over to the west.

As we drove through the city, it started to rain. It wasn’t one of those down-pour-can’t see anything- rains; it was a steady straight downfall of rain. Funny thing was, is that the clouds only stretched a couple miles long. After those couple miles, the clouds were white and fluffy and the sun was shining. It offered a stark contrast. As I sat there in my seat I looked up and saw the sun shining through the rain. It was a breathtaking moment. The sunshine was breaking through the clouds.

It made me think about life. Sometimes, well lots of time, life sucks. You know those days where everything you can think of goes wrong? Yeah, those days suck the most. But you know what, as I was sitting there in the car and watching the sun burst through the rain clouds I thought: maybe it’s all about seeing the sun in the rain.

Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I love that Bible verse so very very much. It reminds me that every single struggle I face, that I should turn to the Lord for strength and for hope. God is the hope; He is the sun in the rain. When our life crashes down around us and it’s raining, we need to look for the sunshine, we need to look for Christ. Those days where we don’t feel love, where we feel alone, we need to know that there is a God that loves us so much they he died for you.

Romans 8:38-39
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I was sitting in the car reflecting about life, it hit me. Life isn’t about trying to fit in, or trying to lose a few pounds, or even trying to get by. Life is about seeing the sun in the rain. Let’s face it. Our lives are never going to be perfect. We’ll never quite get everything right and somewhere in side of us, there’s always going to be a voice that tells us “wow, life sucks.” It’s at those times we need to see the sun in the rain. It doesn’t matter if life is just a bit sucky, because it always will be, what matters is that we see the light, the hope, through he rain. What matters is that we see Christ and his love through our suffering and our sadness. There are some people who say we should learn to dance in the rain, but I don’t believe that. I believe I’m meant to see the sun in the rain. We don’t have to enjoy our sufferings, or thrive on them, or dance with them. We have to see the hope, love, light and peace through our sufferings and bring honor to Christ through them – not happiness and peace to ourselves by dancing and laughing at them. So next time you’ll standing facing the rain, you don’t have to dance in it, you don’t have to stand in it; all you have to do is learn to see the rainbow, the hope, the peace, and the sunshine in the rain and remember that you aren’t facing the rain alone.

*God bless*

GH