Don't Just Give Me Sunshine, Sometimes Rain Will Do

Photo by Johnny McClung

Living south of the Mason-Dixon line often means endless blue skies and little rain. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? And most certainly it seems wonderful most of the time. The reality is nothing green will grow or survive under the stress of sunshine day after day. Even garden colors begin to look dingy, along with everything else.

Over time some vegetation learns how to hold up under the heat’s duress. Life may still exist, but its quality is undeniable. One hot day after another takes its toll. The sun beats down hot and heavy, burning whatever has not found the cover of shade. 

So goes life. Some of us get scorched more than others. At the end of the day though, whether physical or emotional, pain is pain no matter how we acquire it … a difficult medical diagnosis, loss of someone you love, abuse, divorce. Like endless blue skies, trials and troubles never cease to exist.

I am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God. ~Elisabeth Elliot

If you work your way through Scripture, somewhere you ought to conclude that life between the already and the not yet wasn’t designed to be comfortable. It was designed to be transformational. ~Paul David Tripp

Photo by Lasclay

Transformation. Not the word that comes to mind when life is hard, when our souls feel dry, and our spirits feel cracked and broken …?

Does your soul feel dry? What about your spirit? Cracked and broken? During these parched days, do you feel like a desert dweller? Do you feel like you’ve been on a long, hot journey through a wasteland? You’re wandering around looking for relief in any way you can. But nothing seems to quench the longing you have in your soul for something more.

When I find myself in a place of spiritual drought, I know who to turn to. Do you?

Tired from a long walk, Jesus in John chapter 4 sat wearily beside a well about noontime (v 6). Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”

Now the Samaritan woman was surprised. Jesus was a Jew and Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans. So she asked Jesus, “Why are you asking me for a drink?”

Jesus' response to her was profound and has incredible implications for you and me today.

Jesus replied to the Samaritan woman, “If only you knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” He went on to say, “Anyone who drinks this water [well water] will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:10).

Photo by Davide Cantelli

Water. Living Water? Eternal life?

It’s the summer of 2022. We are experiencing a severe drought in East Texas. Day after day the temperatures soar above 100 degrees. It’s safe to say that if your job keeps you outside, this heat makes you miserable and even puts your life in danger. If you stay inside, like me, air conditioning proves a huge blessing. As the day drags on and twilight arrives, sliding into a pair of cool sheets is only a few short hours away.

Bedtime.

For some, going to bed is a time of winding down, relaxing, and finally falling off to sleep. For others, like me, bedtime ushers in a long night of anguish, agony, and despair. Suffering has many faces. I suffer from unrelenting nerve pain associated with a rare and incurable neurological disease. Nausea, headaches, electric shocks in my feet and ankles, severe cramping in my major muscle groups, jerking, tingling, and twitching in my arms and legs — this is how this disease manifests itself in my life, especially at night. Even with medical help to induce sleep, I find it rare to get more than two to three hours of sleep a night. I think about the afterlife at night sometimes. I wonder if I think about heaven to escape the pain I endure or do I really long to forever be in the presence of God. Either way, I want to escape my circumstances.

“At least I can take comfort in this. Despite my pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One.” ~Job 6:10

“I am counting on the Lord; yes, I'm counting on Him. I have put my trust in his word.” ~Psalm 130:5

There are two words that open the door to surviving and even thriving what feels like insurmountable physical or emotional anguish.

But God.

If it weren’t for the years of walking closely with Jesus and immersing myself in God’s Word, I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am today. I have learned that if I trust God completely, I am able to live above my circumstances. Treatment for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy is vague and unreliable. Pain wears at my resolve. It erodes my joy. It’s like a corrosive acid eating away at my peace of mind.

Suffering reveals who I really am. But suffering is also the tool God is using right now to change the way I think, to change the way I behave, and to transform my heart. God does what He does in my life not because of who I am but because of who He is. I’m only useful to God to the degree that I let Him use me. 

Our primary purpose as Christ-followers is to glorify God in all things. What does it mean to glorify God with our lives in the midst of trials, troubles, and tribulations? No matter what is going on in our lives, giving God glory means we make God look good to people by the way we react to our circumstances; our attitude, our words and tone of voice, our body language, and how we relate to others, all examples of how we can glorify God.

What is your reaction when life takes a turn for the worse? When God seems to turn a deaf ear to your prayers. When He seems distant. 

God has answers. They are found in His Word. The next time you hear from me I will share those answers from the Bible with you.

Until then…something to think about.

Pain doesn’t define me or my life. Jesus does.

“Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.” ~Catherine Martin

Welcome and Final Thoughts~

I am so happy to start afresh with Mosaic, and my hope is to encourage you and point you to God and His promises of restoration for each of us! If you feel God is leading you, perhaps share this blog post with friends via email or social media. If friends would like to receive the blog post in their inbox, they can simply fill out their email address under Subscribe.

I look forward to hearing from you. Just click on Comments, and I’ll respond back.

Blessed and Restored,

—Ally