April Showers Bring May Flowers
April Showers By Machelle McDowell
If April showers bring May flowers what do May flowers bring?….Pilgrims! LOL
Why does it effect us differently when the sun is shining than when it rains?
It is almost like a downcast falls on our soul. We experience a sense of gloom. The sun is hidden behind the clouds and a shadow of sadness follows us for a time. Why?
We should focus on the beauty after the rain!
A flower cannot bloom without rain and it must withstand the storms that come along the way.
The rains prepare the ground for the farmers.
The rains filter the air from pollen and other aggravating allergy boogers!
Psalm 65: 9-10 “You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.”
“You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.”
In Northern Ghana, April-October is their rainy season. Unlike us, the Ghanaians look forward to the rainy season because they realize it is the rains that prepare the ground for farming after a long dry season. It is the rains that brings the harvest!
I feel like God allows rainy seasons in our lives for a couple of reasons:
ONE- We bring it on ourselves and He allows it!
I am reminded of David in Psalm 51. He has been caught in laundry list of sins! It started with one thought that turned into a life changing event! He was guilty as charged: lying, deceit, lust, adultery that led to pre-meditated murder! This was no rain shower, but a torrential downpour!
God allowed David to suffer the consequences of his sin and in doing so it drew David back to the throne of the God of forgiveness!
This torrential downpour that occurred in David’s life settled the ridges he had dug for himself and softened his heart toward God who blessed his growth.
God works in our lives very much the same way. We can look back at the storms in our lives and see God’s hand in which he enriched us because of it.
TWO- God wants us to grow!
These torrential rains that David experienced bring about growth! They force us to reflect on who we are in Christ. Or perhaps, You don’t know Christ?
In Ghana during the rainy season. The torrential rains flood the roads to the point they are impassable. You can’t go through the waters nor around them. So, you are left with one option. Go a different direction!
Could it be, God has placed us at a stand still in our country to force us to reflect on the path we are headed down?
Sometimes, God is just trying to capture our attention! He wants us to make some changes. He is warning, go the other way!! You are going to drown!
We are not so different than David! David became consumed with desires that were far from God’s plan for his life and it didn’t end well. Have we?
Are you drowning in flood waters? Are you so deep into believing material wealth is your source of happiness? Are you drowning your life away in a bottle? Are you just floating through life with no real purpose?
This could be true: Christian or Non-Christian. None of us are exempt.
The beauty of Psalm 51 is that David realized who his saving grace was in the floodwaters of his soul!
He cried out for God to blot out his transgressions and to cleanse him and renew his spirit! God did! And, he can do the same for you!
Are you drowning in the floodwaters of this life? Let this April be one in which you let God pour down “Showers of Blessings” upon your soul that you might see the beauty that lies ahead!
If you are a struggling Christian, take the path back to where you met Jesus and renew your heart for him.
If you realize you are lost and are far from any path that is leading to Christ, cry out to Him! Let him flood your heart with his love. Let Him shower you with his grace and forgiveness.
April Showers bring May Flowers!!!