Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder
April 29, 2024
This Week's Anchor
“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”
Psalm 126: 5-6 (NIV)
I love watching life bloom. With great anticipation each year I patiently wait for Spring to really spring. The first day of Spring begins sometime in March, but for those of us in Northern areas, it doesn’t start to feel like Spring until several weeks later. As we wrap up the last days of April, I find myself getting more excited about noticing the small ways that flowers, trees, and other plants are coming alive. Every year around this time I think of an adage that is familiar to many, “April showers bring May flowers.” This saying doesn't only apply to the physical manifestation of the ever-changing seasons, but it is relevant to our spiritual walks as well. Along with our anchor scripture this week, it’s a great reminder that life's rainy seasons do not go in vain.
This week’s scripture encourages us that when we sow tears in difficult seasons, we return with songs of blessings and joy. In this way, one season's pain can bring a new season of purpose, just as the rain-filled months lead to blooming flowers. With this hope, we can have a different perspective on rainy seasons. I remember a moment in my life when I shifted my own mindset regarding the rain. It happened in a season where I desired to complain less and connect with gratitude more. I decided to start small by challenging myself to be more mindful of what felt like habitual grumbling about rainy days. With intentional practice, I learned to appreciate the rain. I would reflect on its necessity at the onset of a good rainstorm. With time, I eventually moved from perceiving rainy days as a gloomy nuisance to experiencing them as an invited peaceful calm. I’ve learned to appreciate rainy seasons in my spiritual life as well. While they are often not innately tranquil, I’ve discovered that the peace God provides during our spiritual rainstorms is even more meaningful. Rainy seasons have a way of bringing us closer to God. There is often a point where we eventually surrender to the downpour, and in that surrender, connect to a deep sense of release, joy, and calm.
Most of us hold the awareness that without rain, life on Earth would not exist or survive. Likewise, rainy seasons are a vital part of our spiritual life as well, and they provide us with essential things that help us thrive:
How Rainy Seasons Help Us Bloom
Our rainy seasons often help wash away that which no longer serves us
They usually reveal areas of hurt and pain that need healing
They cleanse the parts of us that need changing
They nourish and revitalize our souls
They restore past seasons of drought
They strengthen areas of ourselves and our lives that need stability
They replenish our lives with new growth, blessings, and opportunities
As we transition into a new month, let’s be encouraged by Psalm 126, holding close to the hope that we will reap abundant joy from the pain we sow in challenging chapters. May we take moments to enjoy, embrace, and appreciate our shower-filled seasons and the beautiful purpose they bloom.
Reflection
What is resonating for you about this scripture and/or this devotion?
What do you appreciate most about your rainy seasons?
What do you need from the Holy Trinity to help you wade through seasons of tears and pain?
What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?
Related Scriptures to Ground You Through this Week
Psalm 30:4-5
Hosea 6:1-3
Matthew 5:4
John 16:20-22
2 Corinthians 4: 13-18
Galatians 6:7-10
My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide
A Song of Inspiration
Quote of Love & Liberation
“The most common way people give up their power
is by thinking they don’t have any.”
Alice Walker
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