Rain Happens

"Rain, rain, go away, come back another day." A song for a dreary day. A rhyme offered with a sigh as one stares out the window, longing for sunshine.
But after a time of lingering winter and cold, and with the seasonal retiring of the "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" song, a wee bit of rain is a welcome thing.
So says Spring.

My crocuses recently bloomed, as did a few small daffodils.
The rain poured down on them through the night, and in the morning they stood with heads bowed under the weight of the raindrops. And the beauty was uncovered here. Once the sun came out, it dried things up, and they lifted their faces up to the sky again.

And that's how it goes.
Rain happens.
We feel beat down.
We feel we can't lift our heads under the weight of the burden.
Sometimes looking up takes too much effort.

There comes a point though, when we need to surrender the raindrops.

When we drop our knees, hold up our hands, and lift our heads.
It is only with God's fingertip under the chin that we can make that motion of yielding and offering up the rain.
Our hands cupped, full of droplets, and we can take the humble path of surrender.
Smiling, He takes it all.
"Dear one," He softly speaks. "This rain was good for you. It was hard. It was heavy. It was uncomfortable. But it changed you. You went from a head-bower, to a head-lifter. As a burden-holder, you went to the Burden-lifter, and became a freedom-fighter. And that takes strength."

But it's a choice. To offer the drops means we have to surrender them. We don't squeeze out the droplets into a bucket to pour back onto ourselves later, after we cry out to God for help. No. We hold them up, give them up, and release them.
We lift our heads and with upturned faces, we close our eyes. We feel the warmth of love penetrate our skin and go right through to our hearts.

We stand stronger with a little rain.
We stand straighter with a lifted head.
We stand more secure with a loving hand tipping our chin.
The sighs of a down-turned head, transform into the smiles of a lifted face.

Tulips and tree buds soon follow the daffodils, and nature bursts from winter's captivity. Grass is suddenly green. Small animals come out of hiding. And life cannot be restrained.
Spring's hope comes with the rain.

"For behold, the winter has passed; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come ..." (Song of Solomon 2:11-12, ESV)

"But You Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head." (Psalm 3:3, ESV)

"And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord." (Psalm 27:6, ESV)