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Feel the Rain

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get get wet."

 I don't know who originally said this, but my high school best friend, Karen, spoke about it at her graduation speech, and it's one of the ways I'll always remember her.

The rain can make us wet and cranky.

The rain can also make us clean.

The rain gives life to everything that grows from the earth.

The Bible says God's words are like the rain. They do not go back up to the clouds without first watering what God intends.

Some people experience bad thing after bad thing after bad thing, and they still look for moments to be thankful for.

Some people go through the worst possible scenarios like childhood cancer or the loss of a child and grieve, cry, can't always handle it, but look for good, look for ways to grow, and look for ways to serve others through it all.

Karen lost her life on earth, but saved quite a few others and gained even more time with Jesus.

Job lost everything, but never stopped trusting in the goodness of God.

Paul and many others got thrown in prison, and they worshiped God and taught the people there about Jesus.

Moses was a baby at a time when all baby boys were being murdered. His parents stuck him in a basket on a river. If I were his mother, that would have left me more than just wet and cranky.

Yet all of these people "felt the rain." They experienced something awful and found goodness. What was intended for evil, God used for good.

The Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. In Esther, we're told that maybe we have been placed exactly where we are for such a time as this. In Psalms we see over and over that we should give thanks to the Lord for he is good and his mercy and love endure forever.

So as I remember the day that Karen went to heaven, I'm reminded that rain is inevitable, but we serve a God that can control the storm. And not only that, but he has a plan for my life. If the rain will make me more like Jesus and mold me to be the person God created me to be, then I want to feel it all.


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