As Stephen and I drove away from Boston last week, there were beautiful blue skies before us and dark clouds behind us.
“There has to be a rainbow, there has to be a rainbow,” I repeated over and over again to Stephen. The brightness of the sun in front of us coupled with the darkness of the clouds behind us was the perfect setting for a rainbow.
And low and behold, to the side of our car was this beautiful rainbow. As I enjoyed its beauty it made me think of God.
We all have our struggles, aka the rain, in our lives. Yet I wholeheartedly believe with the help of God, aka the sun, He will make good of the struggles, in His time.
I share this with you not just because it sounds good, but because over and over again I have experienced this truth. From my walks with anxiety, depression, cancer, in my relationships, debt, work, etc. I have learned to say, “God, if what I am experiencing is something you need me to experience to help others and shine a light on your love, then please equip me for this journey.”
One rainbow moment I experienced is when I was passing another Mom at pick up and she stopped me. She said she wanted to thank me for writing my book, My Journey to Live from the Inside Out, about my struggles with anxiety and depression. She said, “After reading it I finally reached out and got the help I’ve been needing.”
Rainbow moments like that one are when I have seen how God took my struggle, and used it for His greater purpose. We are not to be ashamed of our struggles, but instead put them into God’s hands and ask God how we can pair with Him to use them to help others.
If there is a struggle on your heart today, I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
Like the rain and the sun working together to bring us the beauty of the rainbow, may we take our struggles to God and trust that He will make something good come from them, in time. May we be patient with God, and ourselves, as we wait to see how the rain of our struggles when given to God, can be made into a rainbow moment.
With love and hope,
Shawn
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
- Romans 8:28