Your first drop may have been a diagnosis given by a doctor with a grim face. Perhaps it was a note left on the kitchen table that said, “I’m sorry but I don’t love you anymore.” It could have been a phone call late at night and someone on the other end telling you the unthinkable.
Or your first drop may have come so softly you didn’t even recognize it.
You tried to start a family and after another negative pregnancy test realized something might be wrong.
You took a promising job and one day discovered that your computer screen might as well be a “dead end” sign.
You began a relationship only to discover that your dream come true has started feeling a bit like a nightmare.
No matter how your first drop fell, it was probably followed by another…and another…and another. Now your heart is soaking wet and you’re wondering if you’ll ever feel warm and dry again.
The good news is God knows even more about rain than any scientist. He knows the destruction it can bring. He also knows how to redeem it and use it to bring beauty and hope to our lives.
Take a quick look out your window. Every flower or tree you see owes its life to rain. Every bird singing, every frog hopping, every living thing draws its strength from storms.
I’m not saying God caused the storm in your life. We live in a broken world and things are not as they should be. But I do believe that God is the Redeemer of the Rain. He longs to bring beauty out of brokenness, healing out of hurts, and new life out of losses.
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The words above are from a book, Rain on Me: Devotions of Hope and Encouragement for Difficult Times, that was published three years ago. Time has gone by and my storm hasn’t stopped. But neither have the hope and unexpected joy I’ve discovered in the middle of it.
The reason why that’s possible is the same reason we celebrate this week–Jesus.
I don’t say that lightly as a cliche or a quick Christian fix. I say it as a woman who has stood in a storm for over seven years and has seen with her own eyes that every drop can be a flower waiting to happen.
This week I’d like to take you by the hand, whisper to your heart, and walk through the rain with you as we get ready for Easter.
Will you join me?
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I’m coming Holley. My hand is in yours, I’m standing in the rain too. Heart hurting, still weeping out my dreams to the King. I’m trying not to be bitter. Trying to just keep bringing my broken dreams to Jesus. He has answered part of my dream, the other part is in a holding pattern for a while. In my deepest heart I know that He stands with us in the rain but sometimes I just feel too rained on and I forget that & start feeling alone… holding my broken dreams and waiting for a someday that I’m not sure when it will come. Thank you for the beautiful reminder that He is with us and He loves us. I needed to hear that first thing this morning. Bless you!
It was good to read this just at the moment because it’s been raining all year so far in my life. I shared this via Facebook and my blog because it was true for me and I know so many other people who are feeling rained upon. Thank you.
This past year the storms have been so heavy, like nothing I can remember enduring before, that my only hope of staying on course is if the Lord should keep me. I think the worst is that the problems are originating from within ME. This makes it so hard to feel that I can even go to Him for help.
I pray that all of us walking through difficult terrain will be strengthened and encouraged by the hope we find in Him, His Word and the prayerful words of our fellow travelers.
One of the truths of this week is that we have a God – Jesus – who can understand and identify with our pain, suffering…He knew deep grief and sorrrow and true physical pain. In fact, his humiliation began with His birth. He lost close family and friends (John the Baptist and Lazarus); He wept. The Garden of Gesthemane , the garden of the oil press…a place of anguish (Yes, wow, He is a “fellow traveler”)
“Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil FOR YOU ARE WITH ME” (His Presence is enough..)
Thank you Holley, I needed this today. The rain seems to have set in, and even though I know there is sunshine out there, I just can’t seem to reach it. But I know there is a hope in Him and I just need to keep reaching for Him and the sunshine only He can bring back into my life.
Count me in, Holley-girl & all you other lovely commenters ….
xo, Reese
Thanks so much for being here, sisters. I’m praying for and with you this morning…
I missed this earlier -I’ve felt the rejection of hands that let go, but you’ve reminded me of the One who holds me in His hand and will never let me go. God bless us every one! ; )
It has been raining in my life for more than a year now. The thing is, I can see a ray of sunshine, peeking through the clouds, but the rain still keeps coming down. I know that the sun will break through soon, but I just don’t know when or how…
Bernice
Have you made mistakes?
“No matter how your first drop fell, it was probably followed by another…and another…and another. Now your heart is soaking wet and you’re wondering if you’ll ever feel warm and dry again.”
Beautiful description of a storm of the heart. Thank you for the encouragement. I look forward to weathering the storm together. I think of Natalie Grant and her song Our Hope Endures. It is such a reminder that we are prisoners of hope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZfuff0S_OQ
Thank you for the beautiful reminder that the rain in our lives is precisely what is needed to water the flowers He plants for our own good. I am inspired by your words to dance in the rain, today, instead of hiding beneath an umbrella and missing the cleansing power of those sometimes-painful drops. <3
~ dearest holly ~
“The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, TO KNOW THE WORD THAT SUSTAINS THE WEARY. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” {Is.50:4}
Almost a decade ago the first few droplets fell. The first year it was a small storm but after a few more years it turned into a hurricane, the hurricane into a tsunami. Everything wiped out. Almost nothing left that was here before.
Yet, only by His grace, He grants me the strength to keep standing. To keep choosing to turn my face again (and again) into His… My ‘Redeemer of the Rain.’
Believing – hoping against all hope – He will bring beauty out of brokenness, healing out of hurts, and new life out of losses.
Deepest thanks for listening to Papa’s heart long enough to hear the word that sustains the weary.
– natalie :o)
You make my day! Thank you so much for writing to my soul and to my heart! Your writings have been a Blessing in my life and they travel all the way to my mother back home in Bolivia, South America…. She enjoys the truly! Love you Holley~
Do you know I’ve never actually read this book of yours? How is that possible? I love you and your words so much. I can’t imagine a better friend to walk Holy Week with.
Holley,
My hand is opened and I’m joining the walk. Reading the other comments has
touched my soul. Remember the rainbow follows the storm……
Thank you Holley for once again provideing us with words of hope and to everyone
who has shared thank you. I know that when the storm hits we can really feel lilke we are alone. We are not alone we have our Lord and the support of
each other on this earth. I have faith he will see us through.
Waiting for the storm to pass…….
Donna
Thank you, Holley for inspiring me to take this walk with all of you. I look forward to reading your words, they make me feel so good and remind me I am loved by The One who matters, no matter what!
I will join you and hold hand in the rain…. I have seen some of what God has grown, yet other times the rain turns into those storms that destroy everything. I have seen much of these the last several years and it has taken me a long time to realize that the tears/rain mean much love has been there. ”There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief…and unspeakable love.” Washington Irving
Count me in. c”,)’
Holly, I’m so drawn to your words because of your courage to stand in your suffering, your honesty to admit it’s been a while, and your humility to bow low before your Good God. My life hasn’t turned out like I thought it would. The Messiah of My Dreams has graced me with oh-so-hard. He’s changing my definitions of success and love. He’s detaching me from dependence on what I thought was real life. There’s Something More than healing of my cancer, hurting from my wounds. There’s So Much More. What do I want more than His Love? I’ve been reading you and I think your words fall like rain on parched souls ~ Deut 32:2.
Oh Holley, I too believe that God is the Redeemer of the Rain. I have been praying, begging really, for God to change my circumstances, but instead of changing my circumstances He brings me peace in the very midst of them.
Thanks for the encouraging words!
Beautiful! I too was just thinking about rain and life’s storms and how it often seems so bleak, but if we look closely, we can see God’s beauty and presence there in the midst of the storm.
I am following too, Holley. Thank you for your lovely thoughts. I am forwarding them to a friend of mine who is suffering from depression. I am sure they help her too. God bless you and all your followers. Happy Holly Week and Happy Easter to you all.
I started reading your book as I was in the midst of, not just a storm, but a hurricane with a couple of tornado’s thrown in . . .so often your words soothed, comforted me . .sometimes they made me feel not so all alone . ..but then there were the times you tried to convict me, and I honestly admit that I stopped doing the devotions for a couple of weeks, because although I knew that what you were saying was true — I didn’t want to admit that I was wrestling with God – – but I was . . . .and so, finally I yielded to Him . . . (and yes, finished the devotion book!) I still haven’t seen the calm after the storm – -but some rays are peeking through! Holley, thank you, for sharing your pain and struggle with us. Thank you for the words of empathy, compassion . . but also thank you for the words that challenged me in my faith walk. What a blessing you are!
And then…there is mud. Beautiful, life-giving rain – sometimes hard to see it that way – and harder still when the healing has to be slogged thru in mudboots. Ever a hard journey to healing, to new life. He is with me; alleluia, He is with me in the mud.
Thank you, Holley, for your so-tender words of truth & encouragement –
Teri @ StumblingAroundInTheLight
i hope i get to see Him redeem my rain…
I didn’t even know it was raining upon me . . . yet I’m soaked!
Thank you Holley for your inspirational words of (in)couragement!
And for helping me to realize that I need to come out of the darkness of
depression and negativity I’m in, and come into the light again! This
storm I’m in is no more! It’s time to pick myself up and see the beauty
God has put all around me! This is the day the Lord hath made, and I
will rejoice in it! Spring has arrived!