𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 (𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭)! ⁣
⁣
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘐 𝘫𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘉𝘚𝘍 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 – – 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

Yesterday, today, and forever, JESUS is the same! (Hebrews 13:8)

Dear friends,

On my run this morning, I was lost in thought and prayer, burdened by the many challenges our group is facing. The prayer list is long and runs deep in the hearts and lives of each of you and my heart aches for the trials you face.

Still miles from home, it suddenly started to rain. The sky grew darker by the minute! I usually like to run in the rain, but today’s sky was worrying me. Would I make it home without being totally drenched? Would my ipod die, being so wet? What should I do?

The Lord seemed to whisper to my heart, “I sent the rain to keep you strong… just enough to refresh you, grab your attention, keep you focused.” Sure enough, despite the skies, the rain itself was gentle and steady, so I kept running, with those words repeating in my mind… “I sent the rain to keep you strong… I sent the rain to keep you strong.”

Hmmm … could it be that this wasn’t just about running? … Absolutely! The LORD will use everything and anything to speak to our hearts if we are willing to listen.

He seemed to be telling me that those challenges I’d been praying about are all part of His mysterious, yet perfect plan for His beloved children. It is the rain that grabs our attention, that keeps us dependent upon Him, that grows our confidence, not in ourselves, but in Him, that keeps us clinging to truth even when it doesn’t make sense.

It is His path through the rain that gives us HIS story to tell others! We’ve been encouraged in our Bible study lessons to know GOD’s promises, to claim them, to walk in what He has already shown us until we know it by our own experience. How can we know Him more deeply if He doesn’t allow circumstances whereby we have no other choice than to step outside of our own abilities and reach for the only One who can help us?

Our GOD really does know best how to make Himself real to us, to teach us exactly what He knows we need to learn, to give us our very own version of His story to tell!

“I sent the rain to keep you strong…” I started to smile as the wet pavement passed under my feet. I was thankful for the strength and willingness to put one foot in front of the other, trusting Him to carry me safely home (literally and figuratively!). In a moment of courageous faith, I smiled again to think that maybe, just maybe He will strengthen all of us to the point where we can not only run in the rain, but run with JOY … and maybe, in time, He will even teach us to dance in the rain!??

May the LORD shine His light through our rainy days and show us a beautiful rainbow of His promises that never fail. Even when our hearts do break, our doubts do swirl, and our strength is small, HE is faithful! He will provide.

He will never leave us nor forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5)

Praying these few thoughts will touch and encourage your hearts!

Amazed by His GRACE,

Wendi xo