Written by TBWM writer Stacy-Ann Smith

Sometimes He calms the storms and sometimes He lets it rain…

Maverick City

I hated rain as a child. Rain meant going inside and no longer playing with friends. Rain meant no electronics because of old wives’ tales and eminent dangers. I wished rain never fell. I would stand by the window and look out at the effects of the rain. The water slid down the metal of the jungle gym landing in a swirl on the grass, washing away laughter and carefree frolic in the yard. I wanted back the vibrant colours of streamers blowing in the wind as bikes raced on the pavement instead of this gloomy grayish-white I now saw. I longed for the glistening of brown skin in the hot sun as we dashed back and forth in a game of tag. I hummed as I stared through the slits, waiting for freedom from this water war, I couldn’t participate in to return.

Rain rain go away
Come again another day;
Little Stacy wants to play
Rain rain go away
Rain was bad. It delayed; it took things away.

I used to hate hard times. Hard times meant going inside my mind and blocking people out. Hard times meant drowning myself in electronics and social media because of old fears that people couldn’t be trusted and the eminent dangers of vulnerability. I lay in my bed watching the effects of pain. Tears would slide down my cheeks landing in puddles on my pillow, washing away all traces of peaceful sleep and carefree daydreams. I missed the vibrant colours of good times. When all that I prayed for was answered; I had a grip on life and my plans succeeded. I hummed with squinted eyes as I waited for this internal war, I didn’t want to participate in to end.

Pain, pain go away
Don’t come back another day
It’s not supposed to be this way
Pain, pain go away.
Pain was bad, it delayed; it took away.

A well-known author and speaker asked this question, “What if disappointment is really the exact appointment your soul needs to radically encounter God?” 1 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. It was when the unplanned sickness, inability to give birth, betrayal in friendship, bitterness in marriage, loss of a parent slows us down that we are forced to stop and encounter God in a new way.

With the rain, the debris is washed away and if we allow the process, even dry things can be quenched. Rain and pain clear the clutter that hides; providing clear 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 up at our Maker during and after a storm is when His ways and His works are clearer and the greatness of His faithful love becomes more evident.

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 to the deepest things that I know about God.” 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 3. The suffering on the cross of Calvary didn’t end with pointless grief. Instead this rain, this pain ushered in the greatest victory for the person who puts their trust in Christ. Jesus showed us the ultimate purpose in the pain He suffered as payment for our sins. Pain had purpose. So does the rain

Let it rain.

WE INSPIRE ASPIRING WOMEN