Dancing in the Raindrops

It's wet and cold outside my window today.
Gloomy and soggy.
I cradle my steaming cup of coffee, look out and try not to outwardly sigh.
Rainy weather seems altogether more dreary when the trees are still barren and the ground is still void of color.
It's just not a very pretty sight.

Spring sure is taking awhile to get here.
It seems we are in a holding pattern. A nasty, tiring, waiting time.
Will Spring come?
Or will the cold, wet, lifeless world stay?

The cold rain splatters against the window and mocks the part of me that is screaming to be outside.
"It's Spring!" I think. "We should be outside." I should be in flip flops!

But then, once again, God convicts my attitude.
He whispers to me. "Be still. Be content with what I choose to bring. Find the blessing in the moment."
In other words, don't spend time waiting for what you think is the ideal, take what you are given and go with it-use it.

And so I pause and mentally switch gears.
I take a breath, look outside again and begin to pray.

"Lord, thank you for this window. It is showing me the world You created, I can stand inside my warm home, sheltered from the cold and rain, but still see it. Seeing what you create is a way to see Your hand, to see Your creativity and Your majesty. To see Your power and goodness displayed.
Help me, Lord, to see Your goodness in this rain and cold.
Help me to understand that it is only in rain, in the dreariness that the flowers grow.
And we love flowers! We love the vibrant colors. We love the new life it represents as each blossom grows and pushes it's way up through the cold, hard ground.
Help me to be like the flowers, Lord! To bloom and flourish and display your vibrant color- even when it's cold and rainy.
Thank you for today. Thank you for the rain. Thank you for the beauty that comes after the rain. In the world outside my window and in my soul."

It is the result of rain that makes the cold and gloomy sky, not just bearable, but pleasing.
Rain produces beauty. Rainbows, flowers, a green and lively world.
Without it, our world would look barren indeed. Certainly not a very pretty sight.

Thank you for the rain, Lord! It is providing what is needed for growth and sustained life.
Thank you for the times of rain in my life! It is providing what I need for growth and sustained life.
It is the only way for me to break from the cold, dead complacency of life and bloom into the beauty God desires of my soul. Without it, I too would stay tucked away in the ground and never grow to my potential in Christ.

The choice is mine. Do I sit idle and wait for the sun? Or do I lift my hands like shaky petals to the sky, ready to receive what is needful from the Father who knows what I need more than I do?
If I sit around and complain because the moment isn't what I prefer, I miss out on what God wants from me in that moment. I miss out on learning what He wants me to learn and I miss out on giving glory to Him. If I wait to live and enjoy life at a better time I miss a blessing now and not only now, but I might miss out on the glorious result that God intended the imperfect moments to produce, if I'm not willing to use the moment as it was designed for in my life.

Lord, help me to see beyond-
the raindrops to the rainbow
the bleak to the beautiful
the gloomy to the glorious

To see it all as from your hand. And that it is all good.

Doesn't that make you want to go dance in the rain?