I love the rain. It's easy to explain - I grew up in Vancouver. More specifically, North Vancouver, where I think they get more rain than everywhere else in the country combined. I love the rain. I like it best when it rains really hard, not just spitting (I personally think that's just an attempt at rain - like the warming up of the orchestra before a symphony performance). Rain is truly beautiful. This morning it rained so hard that for a few minutes I could barely see the buildings that are next to mine in my complex. So cool. It makes me wonder why we as a culture complain about the rain so much - rain makes things grow, it reduces the chance of wildfires, and it is beautiful, albeit rather ... inconvenient at times.

What a neat parallel to the difficulties that God allows in our lives. Spiritual rain - tough times that will force us back to the arms of the Father and effect growth in us and bring glory to God. Why do we complain about them so much? Because they're inconvenient? Because they are hard to go through? Jesus never promised us that we would not face trials. In fact, He promised the opposite: "In this world you will have trouble...." But the beauty of the Word is that He also promised that He has overcome that same world. God also promises us to receives blessings when we accept the lessons from the hard things in life. Check it out:

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God.... (Hebrews 6:7)

More than once in the scriptures we are compared to ground or soil (think about the parable that Jesus told about the seeds and the soil - Matthew 13). When we accept the hard times and rely on God for our growth and strength, we will produce something useful to others - to fellow believers, to unbelievers, and to bringing glory to God. Don't shun the hard times - the rain in your life. It comes from God's wisdom - welcome it. Drink it in. It will make you grow, it will reduce the chance of wildfire in your life, and it is beautiful.

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)