The Trouble With April Showers

Remember the song, “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day”? We sang that song every time it rained as kids who were growing up in a era with minimal technology and the only type of angry birds we saw were the little ones who chased away the big birds that tried to invade their space or when the blue jays came to the feeder and scared off all the other birds there. When there were only three-yes three- channels on TV unless you counted PBS to make four and the only thing on in the daytime were Soap Operas. Period. No Nick Jr. or Disney Channel to sit in front of in a trance-like state while the rain poured down outside. So, on rainy days we sat in the house in complete boredom with the only thing to do to entertain was drive each other crazy.
I don’t know about you, but I still hate rainy days. The grey clouds and all that wet stuff coming out of them are gloomy and make me want to sing the song “Rain, rain, go away,” but skip the “come again another day” part because honestly, I don’t want it to come another day! I like warm, sunshiney days where the sky is as blue as it can be without a cloud in it, much like it has been here where I live for the past several days. I have enjoyed every single day and moment I could outside because let’s face it- eventually the rain will come! The trouble with April showers is that we need them to bring May flowers but why can’t it just rain at night? You know- while I’m asleep! Sunshine all day and a gentle, nourishing rain at night so the grass will stay green and the flowers will bloom and the rivers not go dry. Perfect right?
Much like my desire to have the perfect 72° temperature with crystal clear, blue skies each and every day with a scheduled gentle rain at night, I also desire my life to run accordingly. Do you feel that way too? Like you don’t have time or energy to deal with the rainy days and just want each day to be trouble-free and full of glorious sunshine.
Maybe you feel like you can’t get a break from the torrential downpour and storms. Maybe all you see before you are the grey skies and the barrage of a relentless downpour that makes your yard look like a small pond and floods your basement. You don’t even care about those dumb May flowers and whether they bloom or not! You just want it to JUST STOP RAINING! Maybe all you get are little glimpses of sunshine from time to time and when it comes you go outside and simply soak it in, basking in its warmth that comforts you as you absorb some Vitamin D! Revel it’s in warmth and let it strengthen you for the next round of storms. Treasure those moments but don’t discount the unrevealed treasure you may find as the April showers nourish you in preparation for the May flowers about to bloom in your life.
After all, where would we be without the rain? The rain provides the earth with life-giving water and you too by the way. It enables the trees to flourish- all life actually and yes, those May flower’s too. Aren’t the flowers pretty though? Aren’t you thankful for the trees and water to drink?
The truth is, the rain will come and it falls on everyone. You may stand there under the shelter of your little umbrella nice and dry but that does not change the fact that it is still raining. Maybe we share our umbrella with another who is standing unprotected in the torrential downpour and in doing so, we share the comfort of dryness with them!
Paul says it this way in 2Cortinthians 1:3b-4; “The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (NIV)
So imagine it like this: You have the umbrella (comfort from God), you see a fellow sufferer (a person in trouble) and when you invite them to come under the shelter of your umbrella, you are in effect giving them the comfort God has given you. You are not in the rain unprotected and alone anymore and neither are they as you begin to recognize that the rain is not without purpose.
So when the rain comes, be prepared with your umbrella and when you see another sufferer, let them huddle under it with you and just wait for the April showers to pass and revel in the beauty and treasure of May flowers and the sunshine that chases away the rain clouds!