Flowers always require rain to bloom.
Yesterday, as I headed to my car after work, it was raining, again. I dug around my bag and found my umbrella, again. It’s gotten an awful lot of use over the past few months. Sigh. I knew the rain was coming. It had been forecasted, still, I wasn’t happy to see it.
When I was driving to work that morning, I prayed that God would show Himself. It had been a long week and I was bone tired. I was greeted with a spectacular, bright pink sky. It was gorgeous and I was thankful, but as I headed home, the skies were gray once again. I was so tired of the rain.
Yet, as I grumpily drove, I couldn’t help but notice, the daffodils that were blooming all over the side of the road. There were also brightly colored yellow bell bushes along my path. When I turned into my neighborhood, there were tall, white Bradford Pear trees that were covered in blooms.
Creation had definitely begun to awaken from it’s winter slumber and as usual, it was stunning. I had to grudgingly admit that the copious amount of rain had to have played a part in the beauty that I was being blessed with.
A few weeks ago, when the rain was pouring for days on end, spring was nowhere in sight. The entire world was dark and gloomy and I wanted sunshine and rescue from the seemingly endless downpours. It was February and it was dark and cold; spring felt like a very distant hope.
Yet, on the last day of February, I marveled at the beauty the rain had helped to create.
I felt a little heart nudge that reminded me of my morning prayer for God to show Himself. I had prayed and almost immediately, my prayer was answered and I could feel His presence. I love those kinds of moments, immediate gratification, who doesn’t?
But, He was also present in the gray, cold rain. I had to look a little harder to find Him, but He was there. He was there in all of the beautiful spring color, but He was also there before there was any color, preparing for the beauty that He knew was coming.
I couldn’t see it during the rainy weeks in February, but He was at work. He’s always at work. The early spring blooms reminded me that people, just like the earth, require a certain amount of rain to bloom and it’s not always pretty. It’s sometimes messy and uncomfortable.
Faith teaches us that spring always comes, no matter how dark and rainy the winter might be. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂