Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this. Jeremiah 14:22

So we’re expecting rain on Thursday. Lots of it.

It’s 9 PM on Wednesday and I’m on weather.comscanning the forecast hour by hour for the next 24. It starts out with “light rain,” transitions to “showers” then “rain,” “heavy rain,” and finally “T-showers.” Yup, it’s going to be a great day.

I’m okay with the rain. It’s not my favorite thing but I clearly understand its benefits. ‘April showers bring May flowers’ and all that stuff. (Yes, I know it’s March, stop quibbling.) Time to make sure the sump pump in the basement is working and break out my trusty large black umbrella. I feel for everyone who has to do the D.C. commute. It’ll probably be pretty messy. And then there are the roof leaks at the church again. I know the building is 55,000 square feet and all, but you’d have thought they could put on a metal roof without it leaking like a sieve after 5 years. I mean, really.

For all the trouble that rain can cause, the opposite is no better. 2010 boasted the worst drought in 100 years in China, Thailand and Vietnam and the worst drought in 50 years in Russia. The resulting dust storms, forest fires, a failed rice and wheat crop and severe drinking water shortage affected hundreds of millions of people. The current spike in world-wide food prices are due in part to a lack of rain in some key agricultural areas of the world.

When I think about it, the overall net benefit of rain far outweighs the downside or inconveniences. Now I’m not talking about the torrential rains of Queensland Australia or the stuff that creates mudslides in California; but just your usual garden-variety rain storm. We may not enjoy a rainy day (or week), but we later experience the blessing of having had it. Clean water, green lawns, healthy trees and fresh fruits and vegetables depend on rain. You can’t have one without the other.

There are lots of spiritual parallels here, because the Bible uses the metaphor of rain to describe God’s activity in our lives.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).

And just like I may not always appreciate what God is saying or doing in the moment… it’s getting a little stormy down here, Lord... I have come to know that he is always up to something far deeper and more enduring than my momentary discomfort or inconvenience. He is developing the fruit of the Spirit and a harvest of righteousness in me.

So take heart as you make the sprint from the car to your office and get soaked to the skin or sit in traffic on 66 because of fender-bender caused by a hydroplaning vehicle. Take a deep breath and reflect. In just a few short days this rain will yield budding trees, sunny daffodils and vibrant tulips… and ultimately a lush green lawn and that dead-ripe watermelon you will enjoy midsummer. You can’t have one without the other.

And on a spiritual level, the same is true. The rain of relational difficulty or financial struggle, of missed opportunity or physical infirmity, though difficult to experience, can produce in our life a godly harvest. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and the like, don’t grow without rain. God is the good Gardner of our soul. So expect an occasional rainy day, but anticipate and partner with God for the growth that follows.