Rain, Rain Go Away

Several years ago, my husband and I went through a particularly rainy season in our marriage. Perhaps the word ‘stormy’ or the words ‘torrential hurricane-like downpours’ would be a more accurate way of describing it.

During one particularly nasty deluge, my anger swirled like tornado. The screaming, door slamming and throwing of household objects frightened my daughter so much that she called the police. That moment broke the dam of my heart. The turbulent heavy rain finally cracked through the hardened condition of my soul. What was I doing? How had it come to this? My sobs of brokenness washed away the years of build up and frustration. The soil of my heart was changing.

I went to my office to ask God for the secret of changing my husband. I took my bible and flopped it open. I closed my eyes and randomly pointed to some scripture on some random page. Even though I don’t recommend this type of bible study, in my sodden state, these seeds from Proverbs 25:28 were sown into the soil of my heart.

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit, is like a broken down city, without walls.”

Shockingly, those words seemed directed at me. Was I contributing to the damp days of my relationship? Were my own actions and attitudes stirring the relational tempest?

Looking closer, this verse seemed to indicate that it was possible to control my anger. And in not doing so, I was allowing everything that was important to me to be unprotected and vulnerable. My family was at risk because of my lack of self-control.

Then, I was reminded of the life of the Apostle Paul. Even though ship wrecked, beaten, rejected and thrown into prison, he managed to keep his cool. He faced certain storms, yet his actions remained honorable.

Let me wind down this rainy day tale. Through my personal storm, the crustiness of my heart was softened as I chose to cultivate new thoughts towards my relationship. My stagnant attitude was eventually washed away with fresh thinking. Amazingly, our typical patterns of escalation stopped. Over and over, like the seasons of rain changes the demographic of the landscape, so over time the backdrop of our marriage was re-designed.

Yes, there are legitimate days we wish the rain would ‘go away and come again another day’. I certainly never wanted to have a ‘domestic’ but years after that storm has come and gone, there has been plenty of life and growth. I’m thankful and when I see thunderclouds on the horizon, I hunker down and cautiously say ‘let it rain’.

Back to elaineolson.org