_-----T here is much truth to the old adage that says, “April showers bring May flowers.” Often the deluge of rain in the springtime depresses us, and we find it hard to look beyond the gray and gloom of the rainy day. It is hard to picture the beautiful bouquet of flowers that is a result of that drab, wet day. Not only are the flowers and green grass enhanced by the rain, it is actually a necessity for proper growth and maturity of nature’s bounty. Unless the ground receives the needed moisture it will become too hardened to produce anything of value.

In our spiritual life we also find ourselves complaining about the rainy days….days when the sunshine seems long forsaken and all seems to go awry. Perhaps it is the loss of a job, the illness of a loved one or the paycheck that just doesn’t seem to cover the bills that darkens your day; however, it is necessary for us to endure the storm or the rain for that season. God gives us great encouragement in Galations 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” The blessings will come at just the right time if we simply tolerate the essential rain. God determines when it is our “due season.” It is not our timing but His. The faithful wife may be blessed with the salvation of her unsaved husband. The faithful steward may be blessed with a higher paying job. Hebrews 11:6 declares that “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Those gorgeous, colorful, sweetly scented May flowers are so worth the wait. I love watching the spring flowers popping through the ground after the cold, hard winter. It seems such a reward for enduring the harshness of the winter and the wetness of the spring.