My grandmother has a cartoon on her refrigerator. It shows a cow on its back with all four legs in the air. The caption reads, “I’m fine, really, I’m fine.”
A lot of us handle the storms in our lives like that cow. We stand in the rain soaking wet with a smile on our faces in our cute pair of galoshes and say, “I’m dry, really, I’m dry.”
I know what that’s like because I did it for years. Somewhere along the way I was told,“Christians need to be happy all the time. If you’re not happy, what will people think about Jesus?”
If you want to breed a herd of perfectionists, just say that a few times from the pulpit.
For many years my life was mostly sunny. I could grin and bear it through the few showers that came along. But then came The Storm—the type that makes the weather channel flash maps covered with red and send warnings about taking shelter immediately.
It’s one thing to stand outside in a nice little shower. It’s another thing to be that crazy news anchor hanging onto a light pole in the middle of a hurricane.
I couldn’t do it anymore. Like the rain that streamed down in my world, something opened in my heart and hurt poured out from a place I had kept locked for years.
Then I waited. I listened for the rebukes. I watched for the disapproving stares. I stiffened my soul for the hard hand of God.
But instead of those things I encountered the last thing I ever expected to find.
Love.
I felt it in the kindness of friends and family. I heard it in comforting words. I discovered it deep within my heart as God whispered, “I’m here with you.”
I also realized I wasn’t the only one who was wet. People began to open up to me. Everyone I knew had some type of rain in their lives. We were one great, big, beautiful soggy mess…and God loved us all.
So if you’re still muttering under your breath, “I’m dry, really, I’m dry” then I invite you to admit that there’s a storm in your life.
It’s okay to not be okay.
When we embrace that grace, we’re finally free to discover that love is waiting for us in the center of the storm.
Excerpt from my best-selling devotional, Rain on Me: Devotions of Hope and Encouragement for Difficult Times. Fun news: It’s now available as an e-book and it’s on sale! If you want the hardcover version, DaySpring has it for $8.99 for a limited time + you can get 20% off with my friends and family code–holley20 (best price ever so of course I had to share, right?).
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