When it Rains, it Hails

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”

Psalms 37:39-40

During my time down with my back and other health issues, I have had a lot of time to relive and think about things that have happened in the past. Sometimes I just sit here and laugh at some of the things that have happened to me. I’m sure it wasn’t funny at the time though. One of those such times came to mind. It was a beautiful, sunny, Saturday afternoon. The weather had called for rain

showers all day, but yet as I sat at my computer in my office working, the sun was warmly shining through my windows. It had rained in the early part of the day but now it had cleared. As I looked outside, I noticed the fully opened umbrella on our table and made a mental note to remember to close it because we had heard weather warnings all week about the high winds coming that night. Later that night we were just getting ready to fall off asleep when we heard the wind pick up and

rain and what sounded like sleet pounding the windows. Suddenly I remembered the umbrella. I never closed it. I jumped out of bed and headed to the kitchen to open our slider to go out and close it. My husband wanted to go out and do it, but because he had just had double knee replacement, I didn’t think that was a good idea at all, especially when we reached the sliding doors, turned on the outside lights and saw our deck completely white and covered with hail. The hail was coming down sideways because it was so windy. I knew I had to get the umbrella down and out of the table because I knew with the wind it could become a flying projectile and go through one of our windows. I opened the door and went out in my bare feet and nightgown. I was getting pelted with hail as I got to the umbrella. I began to wind down the umbrella to close it and as it began to close, an avalanche of hail and rain came off of the umbrella onto my head and body. I was totally

drenched and full of ice. The umbrella was really heavy from the rain and hail, but I finally managed to lift the umbrella out of the table. I went inside and immediately got out my wet clothes and into a dry nightgown. I dried my hair and finally got back in bed. Again, I was just about to go to sleep when my husband sits up in bed and says, “Oh no, the awning over the slide to the camper is open.” Ok, so now I am saying, “Are you kidding me?” Again, I trudge out to the garage frantically looking for one of our 5 or 6 umbrellas. Not an umbrella to be found. They were all in the

car. So, I looked for a plastic bag. Nope, not one of those either and as the wind picked up, I knew I had to hurry. So, with a flashlight in hand, I opened the garage door and ran out to the camper, unlocked the door and pulled the slide in. Totally soaked and iced for a second time. Ok, you can stop laughing. Now I know this sounded more like a comedy act than a trial, but seriously we have all had times in our lives when it just seems that if one more thing happened, it would put us over the edge. When it just seems that the rain keeps turning into sleet.

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

1 Peter 5:10

I’m afraid as Christians, we are quick to throw out to other Christians going through trials, I Corinthians 10:13 where it is sometimes translated by us to say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” First let me say that this verse is talking about temptation in which we do ultimately have the choice to make the right decision. But many times, we don’t have the choice when it comes to trials. They come and come and sometimes like hail. The danger of the above quote is that it makes it sound like we have the power to handle anything that comes our way. That we already have within ourselves the power to handle every trial.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask orthink, according to the power that worketh in us,”

Ephesians 3:20

Not true! I think a better verse to hold onto is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Ah, there is the power. Through Christ, not ourselves. On our own we would be desperate, overwhelmed, discouraged, and depressed but “through Christ” we can get the victory. We can feel strengthened by His love and power. Are you going through a trial? Trials? There is only one hope of making it through and that is your complete reliance on the Lord, not yourself. Give up trying to work things out in your own strength and knowledge. Our self-reliance has to die, and we need to learn to totally lean on the Lord so that He will get the glory. Acknowledge that you can’t do it on your own, that you need the Lord to intervene on your behalf. Ask Him to take over the reins of your life and then safely trust in His results. You will find peace, comfort, and relief like you have never known.

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

Psalms 55:22