Then The Rain Comes

These times are weird. I don't really know how else to put it. :/

It seems as though life has been put on pause and humanity is stuck.

Every day is new and maybe more challenging than the last. Parents are now teachers, siblings are now friends (well maybe...), activities/sports are now memories, home is the new normal, and time seems to be moving at a slower pace.

Do you feel this way?

It has been difficult to put into words what this pandemic is doing. Emotions shift and expectations are being challenged almost every week.

We see loss more every day, too. Schools are closed, activities are cancelled, senior year has been pushed aside, friendships are put on hold, and hearts are left broken.

I know many people are feeling the weight of loss differently. I can't imagine what it is like to lose someone you love right now. And I can't imagine working so hard for something and then have it be ripped away from you. The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

What stage are you in?

Jeremiah writes in Lamentations 1:16, "This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed."

Do you feel like the enemy is winning?

Even though spring is here, it feels like there's been heavy rain clouds pouring down on all of our lives. When will this rain let up?

And then I remember that the rain brings water.

Water gives life.

Flowers are blooming.

Trees are growing.

Life is still here in the midst of the rain.

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, :The Lord is my PORTION; therefore I will WAIT for him.

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust- there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.

For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.

Lamentations 3: 19-33

This post is not meant to try and make you feel better or negate your feelings of loss. (although I hope it helps a little)

My hope is that is gives you a new perspective.

We all go through hard situations, loss, confusion, and doubt.

But, we have a creator that knows what it's like to live through that.

Jesus suffered and was acquainted with grief. He wept. He was lonely. He knew pain physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Yet, his faith remained. He held on to what his father said, he prayed, he worshiped, he served, he died, and he rose again.

He knew how to grow in the midst of the rain.

He chose hope, he chose joy, and he chose love.

What will you choose?

In "Hinds Feet on High Places" Hannah Hurnard writes it in this way,

"Every circumstance in life, no matter how crooked and distorted and ugly it appears to be, if it is reacted to in love and forgiveness and obedience to your will it CAN be transformed.

You purposefully allow us to be brought into contact with the bad and evil things that you want changed.

You can teach us to react to them, that out of them we can create lovely qualities to live forever! That is the only really satisfactory way of dealing with evil, not simply binding it so that it cannot work harm, but whenever possible overcoming it with good. (p.241)

In this time of great loss and sorrow my hope is that you can cling to what is good. I pray that you can find joy in the midst of everything and can learn to dance in the rain. Please, don't give up hope. Let's learn to grow even while we suffer.

/The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him./