Rain

Every place I've lived in has had weather that can change almost instantly. Northern VA actually has the most consistent weather of the three, which isn't saying much. Yesterday, I was looking outside and it wasn't raining at all. I began wondering if it would be a good time to go take a walk. Then, it was as if God turned on the faucet. In less than three seconds, it was a good, heavy rain. In about seven, it was a downpour. In fifteen, it was so heavy and with the wind blowing a mist outside, that it was difficult to see the houses just across the street. My walk canceled, I thought that this is how it must have been when God sealed the doors on the Ark and it started raining.

And yet, through all this, I had not one ounce of fear. Why? Because I was inside. I knew I was perfectly safe. Even if there was a leak in the roof that started to drip on my head, I wouldn't have been concerned for my safety.

Circumstances in our lives can change about as fast as the weather. How often, though, are we as calm through it as we are when a storm beats on our roof? Why is it that we have more faith in shingles than we do in the Creator of the Universe? What is it about wood and brick that makes us feel more secure than God's love?

Yes, to be fair, when I'm in my house, I don't feel even a drop of rain. I'm fully protected, not just from being in danger, but from any ill effects of the storm, save perhaps a power outage. With God's protection, I may feel the full brunt of the storms of life. I may have everything around me destroyed. I may not be able to see anything because of how much the strong winds are blowing around. But I have an invisible protection that will not even let me see the storm if He won't see me through it.

Storms come in life, just as inevitably as they come in the weather. Like the weather, life's storms don't often come at convenient times and the violent ones aren't fun to be in. We have a shield against them, though, that is stronger than any roof and harder to break down than any wall. All we need to do is trust in that Shield...and let it rain.