Lessons Jesus Taught Me While Dancing in the Rain

A couple of years ago, a struggling friend told me, “Everyone always leaves.” Around that time, whenever she and I talked, we would pretend we were sitting on a bench in a park, just the two of us. Because somehow the world felt a little lighter that way.

When she mentioned her fear of my leaving, I told her I would stay and, without hesitation, she asked, “What if it rains?”

A couple weeks ago, years after that conversation, it started raining and I thought of that precious friend. As I stood at the window praying and gazing at the droplets of water pouring from billowing clouds, a thought came to me: most of us want to be the friend who stays…even in the rain. But instead of simply waiting out the rain and allowing it to weary our hearts…why don’t we learn to dance in it?

So, I hurried outside in bare feet, chilled by the winter winds whistling through the grey-hued skies. And right then and there, in the middle of the rainstorm…I danced.

And this is what I learned…

1. Dancing in the rain is hard.

I am not exaggerating when I say that my feet were entirely numb by the time I finally went inside. The wet sticks laying randomly in the field by my house poked at my skin, and I slipped in the icy mud several times. It was hard to see because the rain was pouring. My heart beat faster than usual because the air was thick and heavy.

Dancing in the rain is hard.

And that’s okay.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Even Jesus acknowledged that this life is messy. Always remember…the world is heavy and overwhelming at times, but the world was not created to rest on your shoulders. It belongs in Jesus’ hands alone, for He has overcome. So, as you dance, just go one step at a time. Trust in the Lover of your soul to guide your feet to the notes of the sparrows’ song.

2. The absence of sunshine is not the absence of the sun itself.

Hellen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, once said, “Keep your face on the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.” Sometimes we get so caught up in chasing shadows that we forget to remember the sunshine. No matter how deep or dark of a storm we find ourselves in, the sun is always out there somewhere.

Just as the moon is always round.

Just as God is always good.

It is hard to remember the truth when we are in the middle of a rainstorm. But don’t lose heart, friends! Keep your faces on the sunshine!

“Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.”—Ecclesiastes 11:7

3. Jesus allows the rain to fall.

“Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and He will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field.”—Zechariah 10:1

The rain was created for the earth to bloom and grow. Without it we wouldn’t have the beautiful blessing of flowers dancing in breeze-graced fields. There wouldn’t be rainbows painted across the skies after dreary storms. There wouldn’t be new life in springtime. What a tragedy that would be!

Sometimes Jesus allows rain showers in our lives so that we can learn to praise Him even in the pain, sorrow, and heartache. And that’s hard.

But don’t stop dancing, friend. Keep the memory of sunshine teeming from your heart! Your faith is being refined in the process.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 1:6-7

I Hope You Dance

Friend, I pray you don’t ever stop dancing.

I pray you don’t stop dancing because Jesus is dancing right with you. The Artist of the Skies knows that behind every rainstorm is a beautiful sunrise, a breathtaking rainbow, and a bluebird’s precious song.

Rest in knowing that the Lover of your soul is with you every step.

“O LORD my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.”-Psalm 131