RAIN

Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is GOD’s hand for that person.

Proverbs 3:27 MSG

We were in a vehicle some time back and it was raining quite a bit.
We got to an area on our way where the Rain suddenly stopped and I was observing the cars that were moving in the opposite direction, towards the Rain. They looked clean and dry.
I couldn’t help it but think… “What if the drivers moving in the opposite direction were wondering why the vehicle we were in was so muddy?”
I told myself, “When they move ahead they will see why…”
You know, like that time you are coming from an area with so much Rain, your shoes are all muddy and stuff, then you land into the CBD and the Weather is wonderfully Sunshiny with a whole load of dust. Such embarrassment you might feel!

In life, there are Seasons.
There are those coming from a Storm, there are those at the Calm and Easy Season and there are those moving into a Storm.
Good thing is, GOD doesn’t allow all of us into the same Season at the same time. I believe because we need the experienced to teach the inexperienced and the ones in a calmness to help them in a whirlwind.
Maybe if the drivers moving in the opposite direction would have stopped us to ask us why the car was so muddy, we’d have warned them that there was Rain ahead.
If it was a must that they go through that same road we came from, we’d have told them how to manoeuvre through it and encouraged them to not mind the mud, heavy pour and traffic; that they will pull through, just like we did. If need be and if possible, maybe drive back with them to guide them through the places where the potholes were invisible because they where filled with the Rain.
If it was not necessary for them to go through the same route, we’d have warned them about what lay ahead and not to go in that direction.
We would have warned them of the traffic build up because of the Rain, that would have caused them unnecessary delay, and where possible, ask and guide them to use available alternative routes.

In the same way, our experiences are not just for us.
A friend of mine one time told me that my experiences were for other people as well, and now I see this truth more clearly.
I thought they were to grow me alone, until I learnt that GOD wants us to be for each other.
We are not in an Exam Room where we have to guard our answers with every hand and shoulder and compete to see who will get the better marks to keep us ahead. We are in the “Open Experience Christian World” where we can give each other answers, allow others to copy from us or help them with the answers. Sometimes we will even find ourselves waiting or going back for them because there is comfort and strength in walking together.
Christians are all in the same Race, and if one of us wins we win, if one loses, we all lose.
As much as GOD allows us to go through a Season for our Personal Growth, HE also allows us to go through something for someone else, to be someone that can stand with them and guide them when they are in that Storm; help them through it and guide them on how to cope within the Storm.
How much will we be of help when we already have the experience or at least have an idea of what they are going through? I’d say a lot!
Encourage them that soon, they will be out of it too, or perhaps warn them off from a Storm that they don’t need to enter into.

On the other hand, we may not have experienced what someone else is going through.
However, GOD is a Great Teacher and when we feel the call of GOD asking us to stand with them, HE will show us how to.
So whether experienced or not, whether we know what they are going through or not, I pray that we will not laugh at them going through Storms or judge their ways of getting through it or over it or how they look in and from it. We should not look down on them or maliciously and proudly thank GOD that we are not like them, or in their space or that we handled the Storms better than they are.
Instead, let us be their light even when we don’t know the places to illuminate. Let us be their Ray of Sunshine and their Rainbow through whatever they may be going through.
By all means, let us not leave their side or assume that they have it together, or that they have enough people standing by and with them or avoid them because we can’t cope with their deep emotions or because we feel inadequate for their Season.
Even when we don’t know the best thing or anything to do, standing by them in silence, holding their hand, assuring them that we are available at their disposal, a simple tight hug or a relevant joke, reminding them of a happy occurrence and our smiles over them go a long way and it will really mean the World to them.
Genuinely being there for them, genuinely listening to them and putting an effort to understand what they are experiencing could get them out of the hideous myriad of emotions evoked by the Storm and get a Peace and a Dance even through the Storm.
We stand with them, pray with and for them, walk with them where we can, encourage them, sometimes even when we barely have the strength.
For those that could be in the depth of a Storm and they will have the strength to walk with us where we need, let us allow them if they want to and not stop them. Sometimes we look at those going through challenges like they are weak, but in the real of things, they may be stronger than some of us not going through any challenge. Storms have a way of making someone stronger than they ever thought.
More so, standing with each other in our own state of Storms could be the very healing and lesson we need.

May GOD give us Amazing People that will walk with us through the various Seasons.
May we be the Amazing People in other People’s Storms.

PRAYER:

Dear JESUS,
Please teach me how to stand with People that are going through Storms.
Teach me what I should do for and say to them, even when I have not gone through a similar Storm. Give me the strength to be their support.
And when I need these People in my life, please bring them to me.
And above all, help me remember that the true and best comfort comes from YOU.
Help me to rely on YOU through all the Seasons; that I will be content whether the help comes from People or not.
In YOUR Holy and Precious Name I pray,
Amen.

More of GOD’s Grace, Love and Light,
Lydia Ndwiga.