Last week we had ice, this week we have rain. We need the moisture and I keep trying to remember that when I want to complain. I have thanked God for the rain because we are still fighting off drought. Yet I miss my Texas sun.

As I was thinking about this today I realized that many times when we go through hardship in our life it feels like a downpour of rain. We can not see the sunlight of hope because the clouds of despair invade our thoughts. There have been times in my life when those clouds were so dark and angry I felt powerless. The darkness was so pervasive I was blinded. Yet the sun always broke through eventually.

Rain nourishes our plants, trees and ground. It is necessary for growth. In the same way trials and tribulations are necessary for us to grow as Christians. Many times we don’t see the character that God is weaving into the tapestry of our life when we go through these times but trust me, He is at work.

In James it says that we are to be thankful for trials and tribulations. That is not always easy to do. When you have lost a loved one to death, when you have pain that is chronic, or when there is dissension in a relationship which you cherish, the last thing you want to do is give praise.

Yet it is these times which nourish our soul, for if we only had sunshine we would become a parched land which can not bear fruit.