Umbrellas

I don’t really know why. It’s not that I have a fetish for eyeliner and blush running down my wet cheeks. Or that I enjoy my hair resembling my dog John’s on bath day.

I just don’t use them. If I’m completely honest (which is kind of a necessary thing), I’ll admit that maybe I don’t use them because I can’t be bothered. I mean please, by the time I get that thing open and up, I’m already wet anyway, and could be halfway to my destination. So I prefer to do it myself. I prefer to jump out and dodge the raindrops on my own.

The funny thing is, it never fully works. I have yet to discover the secret to dodging raindrops. Either way you move, you still get wet. From all sides. But does that make me use an umbrella?

It should. It generally doesn’t.

Sometimes in my walk with the Lord, I find this in myself too.

I don’t always pray for God’s strength and grace for my day. I’ll have my Bible reading and prayer–but so often I neglect to ask for His help to depend wholly on Him for the next 24 hours. Because for some foolish reason, I think I can dodge “raindrops”–those tiny bits of everyday difficulty I face. The little moments of choices, when someone cuts you off on the road, or your job gets a bit stressful, or your day doesn’t quite turn out like you planned, or whatever other little happenstance rides into your path. Maybe it’s just doing what you have to do, when you really have no strength to do it. Or even when everything is going great, realizing that it’s only because of Him and not you.

Jesus said in John 15:5 “…..apart from Me, you can do nothing.” (ESV)

I’ve found that when I “open my umbrella”–i.e. pray specifically for God’s strength and grace to make it through the day, that He would be glorified no matter what I face–the drops of tiny trials and frustrations suddenly aren’t so big. It doesn’t mean they always go away. Actually, they seldom do. But it does mean, I’m carried through by His presence. My day may not be easier–but I’m much more peaceful. It’s not just the big things I need to depend on Him for–it’s everything I do.

Perhaps one day I’ll not only remember to open my spiritual umbrella in the “rain”–but my red and blue one as well. Now that would be something!