APRIL 2025

       “April showers bring May flowers.” I have heard this saying for as long as I can   remember. For the most part, I do not enjoy rainy days. The rain often washes out our plans for anything outside. However, we need rain! After a few weeks without rain, we are all praying for rain. Without the rain we would not be able to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and a host of other agricultural products. Therefore, the temporary aggravation and   disruption of the rain is a vital necessity for life. God brings forth sustenance and life through the rain.
Now, let’s use the rain as a metaphor for the struggles, difficulties, disappointments, sicknesses, and even loss of loved ones we all encounter in our lives. None of us, if we are emotionally and psychologically healthy, enjoy these types of events. We hurt when we hurt. We are sad when we are sad. We are stressed when we are under stress. And we are scared when we face fearful situations. However, if we can understand that God not only uses the blessings and beautiful things in life to grow us, but He also uses the painful things in life to grow us, then we can approach the struggles, difficulties, disappointments, sicknesses, and even times of bereavement from a different perspective.  Yes, we still hurt; yes, we still experience sadness; yes, we still feel the stress of the situation; and yes, we may still feel a sense of fear. But underneath the hurt, sadness, stress, and fear lies a firm foundation that holds us together. Furthermore, underneath the hurt, sadness, stress, and fear lies an eternal river of glory that nourishes us with supernatural hope, peace, and joy that nothing else in the created order can replicate. What is this river’s secret sauce? It is God’s very own glory emanating from His sublime presence.
The Apostle Paul was a man who experienced many rainy days. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul lists some of his troubles: ... with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, near death many times. 24 Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing. 28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches. That is some rain! Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul found his footing and an unrelenting source of strength that could only be described as divine. What was Paul’s flower that grew big and beautiful after the rain? An unobstructed view of the glory of God! In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul noted that he had a vision of God unlike others. This vision gave him insider information about the splendor and gravity of God. In addition, it gave him an opportunity for pride. Thus, in God’s grace, God gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble and fully reliant upon God. This thorn must have been sharp and long because Paul begged God three times to take it away, but God refused. In His grace, however, God gave Paul a reason for leaving the thorn: 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
The greatest source of hope, peace, and joy in this world is seeing God clearly and being satisfied with Him completely. So often in our lives, the rain helps wash away all the obstacles obscuring our view of our great big, beautiful God. For that, we say, “Thank you God for the rain!      

-Pastor Clint Miller