Carrying a Spiritual Umbrella

Growing our faith in the quiet times prepares us for the rainy times.

I was driving to work one day last week, enjoying the sunny morning. The skies were spectacularly blue and I was feeling grateful. When I got close to my parking spot, I passed a man walking with a backpack and a large umbrella. The umbrella caught my eye because it was such a beautiful morning, but I knew why he was carrying it.

When I first started my job, I was walking to my car at the end of the day and a few raindrops began to fall. The sun was out and we weren’t expecting rain, but in just a couple of minutes, I was caught in a downpour that came out of nowhere. A girl ran past me and commented that it wasn’t supposed to rain, yet there we were. While I was sheltering under a tree, a sweet coworker was driving by and she offered me a ride for the rest of the way. I gladly accepted.

Determined not to get caught again, I bought a little umbrella to keep in my bag that I take with me everyday. A couple of weeks later, it began raining once again on my walk to the car, but I was prepared, or so I thought. I pulled out my new little umbrella and smiled. I would be dry on my walk to my car. But, this was a blowing rain.

My head stayed dry, but my pants were soaking wet. I clearly needed a larger umbrella.

So the gentleman carrying his large umbrella on that sunny morning wasn’t a surprise, he too, had likely been caught in a sudden downpour that left an impression, but he left an impression on me that day.

We tend to choose to live our lives unprotected. When the sky is blue and sunny, we go about our business blissfully. We give little to thought to rain or storms that may pop up at any time and we get drenched when they inevitably come.

Our spiritual lives are the same. When everything is quiet and still, we often forget to pray; we neglect to read our Bibles or spend quiet time with God. When the rains come, we are unprepared and we find ourselves desperately seeking shelter under just about any overhang we can find believing we may drown.

But, when we seek to walk with Jesus when our skies are still and sunny, our faith grows stronger and larger and we have it with us at all times. When the rains come, we know we won’t drown, we stay focused on Jesus and we are protected.

A man with a large umbrella on a sunny day reminded me that being prepared is always wise both physically and spiritually. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂