Sometimes we have to sit in the rain.

Growing up in the Midwest, surrounded by churches on every corner and raised in one whose members’ well-intentioned hearts would commonly tell hurting people, “God won’t ever give you more than you can handle, honey,” helped form an idea as a young woman, wife, and mama that made me blame myself when bad things happened—because God wouldn’t have given it to me of I couldn’t handle it so it must have been a product of my decisions.

As I sat on the beach this morning with our wild little family, it began to rain. We’d already planned the trip to coincide with a speaking event of mine so we’d save money. We scheduled around our extreme child’s therapy, appointments, and medication refills. We monitored the weather for days to ensure we’d get a full afternoon of sun and sand, waves and surf . . . and then the sky turned dark.

For once, instead of letting my anxiety take my mind prisoner, I sat back. I thanked God for this chance to get away. And I watched.

Friend, I watched as my sensory-seeking child squealed in delight at the sand in his fingers and the waves crashing around his legs. I saw our 3-year-old daughter fill her bucket with sand and water for what seemed like hours, never stopping, never complaining. I watched my husband diligently care for them, watching the waves to ensure our kids’ safety with each crash.

As I let myself sit in the rain, soaking in each drop and refusing to complain, I was able to see—to really SEE—the blessings I’ve been given.

Those blessings weren’t taken away in the midst of the storm. In fact, when I chose to look for them, they appeared more beautiful than before.

Friend, lean in close because I want to make sure y’all hear me in the back: God DOES give us more than we can handle sometimes, but never more than HE can bear.

So, when things are chaotic and crazy and the storms start to brew, that is when we must lean into Him. That’s what He counts on. He allows us to endure trials because when we come out on the other side of the storm and are able to stand in victory, we will be excited to share of His strength in our weakness because we will know it was He and not us who carried us through the rain.

There will always be storms in our lives, downpours that, despite our intensely overbearing Type A planning, we simply cannot avoid—but if we refuse to give in to our tendency to be anxious, to blame ourselves, to fall into what we’ve become accustomed to doing when things get hard, that, my friend, is when God is working.
I know it’s hard. It is SO hard. But choose to search for the blessings in the rain.

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