When It Rains It Pours

We’ve all heard this little cliche before, but did you know it dates clear back to the 18th century? A few people back in the day wrote some things (one a book, the other an essay) both entitled, It Cannot Rain But It Pours, and it’s been part of our language ever since. They described it as one stroke of misfortune being followed by many other strokes of misfortune, often times when you least expect them.

I was thinking about this today for two reasons. The first one was a more literal meaning, and if you live in Iowa you know what I mean. This week, while it hasn’t been that cold, spring rain, it has rained nevertheless. And rained. And rained. And rained. The good news is that because it’s rained so frequently this past week we’re past the stage where it smells like worms outside. The bad news is that the four consecutive dreary, overcast days seems to be making everyone just a TINY bit more tired and just a TINY bit more irritable.

My other reasoning relates more to the definition up above. A good friend of mine has experienced this firsthand the past couple days. She received news from home that her grandma isn’t doing well and within an hour of receiving the news, her boyfriend broke up with her. Both of those things are things that independently can be hard to deal with, but for them to happen in such close proximity to each other seems nearly unbearable.

So why is it that things tend to happen like that? People say that deaths tend to happen in threes, is it that one isn’t enough? Or even two? Why is it that when things seem to be going wrong, they go REALLY wrong?

Truth be told, I don’t really know the answer to that question. However, I think there are two possibilities. One is that we’re being tested. We as humans are a lot more resilient than we realize, and sometimes it’s in tough moments that our colors shine through. Some people equate being tested with being punished and that’s not the case at all. Being tested simply makes us stronger. It better equips us to handle things further down the road, and it allows us the opportunity to be able to better help others when their world comes crashing down.

The other possibility is that God’s looking for us to turn to him. People tend to cry out to Him a whole lot more when something’s gone wrong, then when something’s gone right. When everything is all rainbows and butterflies we have a tendency not to thank him for that. But when someone’s sick, or someone has passed away, or some other tragedy has occurred we have a tendency to either become angry with Him, or turn to him and ask him for help. And you know what? He doesn’t mind which one is, so long as you let him in.

Things go wrong, and sometimes when it rains, it really does pour. The important thing to remember though is that rain doesn’t last forever. It stops, and sometimes stays cloudy for awhile, but eventually the sun does come back out. Remember that next time you’re being rained on, and maybe more importantly, remember it when someone you know is caught in a storm. Be their sunshine.