Thoughts on a Rainy Morning

(I wrote this post back in November, 2013. The message newly resonates with me today, and so I share it with you.)

The weather app forecast stated, “rain showers will arrive at 8:45 a.m.,” so I was surprised to feel raindrops on my 7:00 a.m. walk!

But I found a blessing in the reminder that weather forecasts are wrong at times. Even with teams of trained meteorologists, advanced technology, and “interactive Doppler radar” working together to provide an accurate forecast, we are still often surprised by the actual weather.

There is a freedom found when we apply this to our lives. We try to live our lives well. We make plans and have dreams. We want to be a blessing to others. But at the end of the day, we often find that we haven’t lived as perfectly as we’d hoped. The early rain is a reminder and a blessing that we don’t have to be right or flawless. We CAN’T be right all the time, or live without making mistakes. Weather forecasts will still be wrong sometimes- even with the training, expertise, and sensitive technology- even with a team of people actually working to do this one task.

Like the weather, life presents us with so many variables, every moment of the day. A major setback or even a minor mood change, unexpected news or old experiences, joys or sorrows; any one of these can divert us from living rightly or perfectly. We do our best, but we aren’t the best.

That humble realization is as it should be. Let’s embrace the honest freedom of knowing that we aren’t perfect or flawless, and we will never be. But we are loved anyway. And let’s remember to extend that same grace to those we encounter on this ever-surprising journey of life.

Photo by reza shayestehpour on Unsplash