If its always sunny in Philadelphia then it is certainly always rainy in Scranton. In fact, we have tallied up a whopping 37.56 inches of rain fall (not including snow) this year and I'm convinced that we saw the majority of that in June and July. Nothing is quite so depressing as a rainy day and its easy to get bent out of shape when our picnic plans have been delayed or the backyard project that we hoped to tackle has to wait till next weekend. Yes, overcast days often impede our best laid plans yet they are not with out their paradox...

With each picnic thwarting drop that falls from its gloomy home above to the earth below a miracle takes place. You see, once a raindrop has hit the ground its journey is far from over. Gravity will continue in its efforts to push that tiny bit of water through the top soil, deep into the stores of groundwater that make up the earth's water table. Groundwater, irrigates crops, feeds nutrients to fields and forrest, and provides more then 50% of our drinking water. You can see where I am going with this... No raindrops... No life.

Metaphorically speaking, this is just a little to much like life... How many rainy days have you endure this year? How many troubles have you encountered in this past week?

But there is a flip side...

Writing to his heavy ladened readers the apostle James said, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1)

Simply put, adversity in this life is a catalysts for spiritual growth.

Despite my relatively young age of 29, my life has not been without its fair share of rainfall. By the time I was 22, I had been diagnosed with cancer and by the time I was 24, I became aquatinted with the helpless agony of standing along side of my wife as she experienced a painful miscarriage. I don't pretend to know "why" these things happened but I do know that my days are not devoid of God's providential design and attention. In other words, at the end of my day God is not sitting up in the heavens on His cosmic recliner scratching His head wondering what went wrong. He is the father of the rain (Job 38:28) and not a single rain drop hits the ground without the express authority of its Father. Likewise, not a single calamity enters my life apart from my Father's sovereign hand.

Each rainy day is designed for our good and His glory. In this simple fact we can rejoice!

And as my friend Andy says, "This is the day the Lord has made and He did a really good job."