Dancing in the rain

Isaiah 35:10 (ESV)

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return

    and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

    they shall obtain gladness and joy,

    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

There was once a small group that decided to take a weekend retreat down to the east coast. They were pretty excited. In the days leading up to the weekend they couldn’t help but imagine hanging out at the beach, playing some football and grilling large amounts of meat for evening meals. When Friday finally rolled around, they loaded up their cars and made the two hour trip down to the coast where they had rented a cabin.

Well, it rained. All weekend.

It wasn’t the fun kind of rain either, the kind where if you get a few people brave enough you can run around outside like maniacs until you’re soaked. No, it was the cold, unrelenting, kind of rain that makes you want to crawl back in bed and hibernate for a week.

The group was a little surprised when Stephanie, one of the girls in the group, announced that she wanted to get baptized. She had planned on doing so at the beginning of the trip, and decided that she was going to follow through despite the weather.

She couldn’t have picked a more miserable day. The sky was gray, the sea was white and foamy, and as they stepped onto the beach, they knew it would only be minutes until they were all close to freezing. One in the group remembers watching Stephanie and her friend wading into the sea and thinking to them self when I get baptized it will be somewhere tropical and sunny. But when Stephanie broke the surface, the joy on her face seemed uncontainable. They couldn’t help smiling with her as she climbed out of the water.

Suddenly the sky didn’t seem so gray, the rain wasn’t so bad, even the wind, which was just as cold as ever, didn’t bother them so much. It was one of those moments where you knew God was there. Life is full of bad moments and rainy days, and it’s tempting to think God doesn’t care when cloudy skies remain the same. But here’s the thing about God, you never know Him better than after he’s taught you to laugh in the rain.

Dear Lord, help us to look for the positive in the bad moments. Help us to see You in the rain. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.