Rain and pain clear the clutter allowing us a clearer perspective .
A well-known author and speaker asked this question , “ What if disappointment is really the exact appointment your soul needs to radically encounter God ?”[ i ] As I grew older , I realized how much of this was true . The beautiful effects of rain were so many . It provided me a time to pause and process . Likewise , with all of us , it is when we encounter the unplanned sickness , inability to give birth , betrayal in friendship , bitterness in marriage , loss of a parent — all of them slowing us down , that we are compelled to stop and encounter God in a new way .
With rain , if we allow the process , debris is washed away , and even dry things are quenched . Rain and pain clear the clutter allowing us a clearer perspective .
To look up to the mountains after the rain is to see them more clearly . It is so pristine ; the vibrance of its colours vivid , and its magnificence so much more evident . Looking to our Maker during and after a storm is when His ways and His works become more evident , and the greatness of His faithful love is clear .
It was Elisabeth Elliot who said , “ The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering . And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God .”[ ii ]
It ’ s here that we experience Him as an anchor that steadies in uncertain times . It is here that we experience Him as the lover of our imperfect soul . It ’ s here in the pain that we can see Him . And then the rain will seem beautiful . So that whether or not the rain ends , we realize even the torrential showers and devastating times have purposes until we can give God the glory , even while we wait .
James said we should count it all joy when we face various trials [ iii ]. The suffering on the cross of Calvary did not end with pointless grief . Instead , this rain , this pain ushered in the extraordinary victory for the person who puts their trust in Christ . Jesus showed us the ultimate purpose in the pain that He suffered as payment for our sins . Pain has purpose . So does the rain
Let it rain .
Written by : Stacy-Ann Smith
TheBeyondWoman Magazine | 21