Light in the Darkness

It seems as if it has done nothing but rain since what feels like the beginning of time in Tennessee. Nonstop. Continuous. Every. Single. Day. There have been memes made about all the rain we have gotten. There have been new jokes written about all the rain. I even heard someone ask the other day if there was another flood coming that the good Lord forgot to tell us about, and if so, has anyone heard who may be in charge of the ark. From this aspect, this perspective, it’s quite comical. We don’t live in Seattle or Portland (or any other rainy place) so we have never thought of ourselves as living in an area where it’s always coming down. We don’t see the kind of accumulation that seems to have become our norm in the last couple months and that has caused the comedic minds of our area to work overtime on the weather. I myself thought it was all pretty funny too. Until this morning. Until God changed my perspective.

I have about a 45 minute drive from home to work every morning. Traffic ebbs and flows constantly so most mornings I have to find something to occupy my time while I’m riding. Sometimes I listen to music. I pray a lot. I like to think through things I’m struggling with. I’ll listen to an eBook from time to time. Other times I’ll call my husband or a friend or family member and talk on the way in. No matter what I choose though, somewhere along the ride, God talks to me in some way or another.

It was about 6am when I headed into work today. Like I said, we have had a ton of rain recently and along with that rain has come thick cloud cover, so no one has seen the sun or the stars in quite some time. It’s still pretty dark at 6 in the morning and because of that, when I looked out of my car window, the brightness in the break in clouds took my breath away. In the cold, weary bleakness that spread from horizon to horizon, there was one bright shaft that broke through the darkness. One bright spot, one ray of light that changed the landscape of the sky.

As I continued to glance out of my window to see the light breaking through, the abstract began to take shape and I could begin to see it was the moon starting to shine down through the cloud cover. Over the course of the next few minutes, it just continued to glow brighter and brighter. With my ever-growing appreciation over the simple beauty of this sight beginning to come to its peak, I began to hear God explain to me what was so important about the rain, the dreary thickness of those clouds, the light beginning to break through and the significance of the moon making itself known.

We travel through life, at least partially, in dreariness, I think. It isn’t because we choose to. It isn’t because we aren’t trying to live the best life we can and walk in the light of God. It is wholly because that is what the world offers us. More times than we can count throughout the years we spend on this Earth, we either say ourselves, or hear someone else say “when it rains, it pours”. That saying no longer sounds like a way to describe how many different things seem to be spinning in our lives. It instead sounds hopeless. It sounds as though we don’t have it in us to look for the light anymore and we are just accepting things will always be like the recent weather in Tennessee. Wet, cold and miserable.

Did you know that every person on the planet has a rainy season?  Funnily enough, not a single one of them look the same; some are short seasons and some feel like they last your entire life. It will sprinkle some days and then others will pour so many buckets on your head you start to think you’re going to need a boat to move because your feet will no longer be able to touch the ground. Personally, I HATE the rainy season. Well, I hate it for the most part. I hate the wetness of it. I hate the weariness of it. But I’ve leaned that in order to enjoy the clouds breaking away, I have to experience that part of it.

During my rainy seasons, I rarely have a spring shower. You know those quick bursts of warm showers that come while the sun is still out? Yeah, mine never look like that. When the rain comes for me, it is biblical with hurricane winds and life altering consequences. I won’t lie and say I’m thankful for hard times. No one is. Over the years though, I’ve been able to see how my rainy seasons have watered the seeds planted in another’s garden. Even though there have been some terrible moments in my life, things that have drastically changed me in ways I couldn’t begin to explain, I’ve seen how my valleys, flooded with rainwater, have taught people around me to navigate their own paths. Without me realizing it, I’ve been watched in my darkness, observed in the wayfinding through the waters.

While enjoying the brief break in the rain this morning and watching the rays of the moon penetrate the overcast of the clouds, these thoughts played through my mind. I began to wonder, do I forget that even though there is darkness, light is still present? When the moon began to shine in that one spot in the clouds, it wasn’t because it suddenly appeared. There was no quick burst, no birth of a new orb. The cloud cover and the rain it created didn’t mean the moon wasn’t shining or had neglected to fulfill its duty to rise and reflect the sun to Earth. The darkness covering the night sky didn’t mean light had stopped in its existence. It rose like it was supposed to. It fulfilled what God created it to do. It didn’t snap out of life because something was in its way. It had always been there, I just couldn’t see it.

As the thought presented itself, The rest of the sky began to lighten causing what was once a small spot of brightness to spread as far as the eye could see. Isn’t that the way God is in our lives? We find ourselves, readying to fight the rain and forgetting our umbrellas, leaving our rain boots in the closets and on the really dark days, neglecting the flashlights that could illuminate our way. Instead of using the tools we’ve been given to protect ourselves and help us through whatever troubled time we’re facing, we just stand in the rain, miserable and alone. No light, no hope. Just wet, cold and hopeless.

OHBUTGOD. This is what the license plate in front of me said as a car merged into my lane. It completely brought home and tied up all of my thoughts in a nice big bow. Even on the days when we don’t see God, He is there. On the days we don’t feel God, He is there. On the days that are so dark you can’t see to put one foot in front of the other, He is there. He gave you an umbrella to use when he poured out his love, sending his only son to die for you. He gave you rain boots to protect your steps by giving you a firm foundation filled with grace and mercy shielding you should you stumble or your feet get wet. He placed in your hand a blinding light to shine through the black surrounding you when He gave you His Word to guide you through the obstacles this life will surely throw at you. Just like the moon, ever-present behind the clouds during a rain storm, He never forsakes us and is always there, waiting to be let in. It starts with a glow, then begins to stream in shafts through the darkness, shining until the sky is full of light.

I’ve learned that rain has so many different purposes. It can cleanse away the dirt that gets caked on when we walk through the world. It can nourish the seeds we plant with the life example we give others. Sometimes it will even keeps us under the umbrella until we are able to step out into the light….which, as I was reminded this morning, is always there. No matter how deep the flood comes, or how long it lasts, it comes for a reason. And when it comes, there is always light at the end.

Look for it. You’ll see.