Handling the Ups and Downs ~ Life Lessons from Rain

I was driving down the street the other day and a few drops of rain hit my windshield. Not a problem. The place I was heading to had an overhang and I didn't even have to get out of my car. I could handle some rain.

Five minutes later I was completely frustrated.

The little sprinkle here and there turned into a full-out, blinding deluge. I cranked my wipers up to high, slowed down my speed, and kept trudging down the road. Thirty seconds later it had slacked back to a steady drizzle and my wipers were going too fast, causing them to squeak. I adjusted my wipers and kept going.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I was squinting because the rain stopped and the sun was coming directly through the windshield. I didn't have a hand free to grab my sunglasses, so I just squinted until I was parked. While I handled my business the heavens opened up again and water poured from the sky. It wasn't just raining cats and dogs, it was more like lions and wolves or something like that. Even the overhang I was parked beneath wasn't enough to keep the water from splashing in my open window.

I finished my business and pulled out, bracing for the storm once more. In the five minute drive back to my house we went through the entire array of weather again.

Life is like that sometimes. Things keep changing on us so fast we don't know whether to be happy or sad or mad or frustrated or something else entirely. We get a phone call that we got passed over for that promotion. While we steam over the news, we open our email to find that our child just won the prestigious Principal's Honor award at school. On our way home we get a flat tire, but when we walk in the door we find that our husband got home early and cooked dinner. Up, down, up, down. It can drive you crazy trying to keep up with it.

This is where joy comes in, I think. Joy, unlike happiness and sadness, is not dependent upon our circumstances. Joy is a state of being. When we rest in the Lord, confident that He is taking care of us, knowing that in the end things will work for His glory, we find contentment and peace that are the hallmarks of joy.

Consider it great joy, my brother, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. James 1:2,3

How do you hold on to joy when the weather of life can't decide what to be?