A RAINY DAY

Living in a country like the United Kingdom, every day can be a rainy day. It can be very hot today and tomorrow it’ll just rain. When I lived in Ghana, I was never bothered about checking the weather before stepping out. I used to check the clouds when I stepped out and then did my calculations and then leave. But in this country, it will be very hot, the clouds will looks calm but then the chances of it raining in the next hour is high. So I just know that I need to be prepared at all times before I step out.

I’m not sure how everyone prepares when it’s raining. Me personally, I take a jacket that has a hood, my mum takes an umbrella and my sister well, she is not ready to mess up her hair and she is not ready to put on a jacket that will ruin her outfit or carry an umbrella that make her look like she’s carrying too much so she takes a cab. I don’t blame her to be honest…the girl gotta slay. But today, I’ll talk about the umbrella approach.

Umbrellas are simple objects but very effective. When you have an umbrella opened in the middle of the rain, the rain falls on it and slides off. An umbrella protects you from getting wet. An umbrella is only effective when you open it and place it above you head not close it and expect it to save you from getting wet. Today, we will use the rain as a symbolic of our troubles, our fears, the emotions that always drags us down, the relationship that always leaves us back to square one, and for all the anxieties, low self esteem and failures. Imagine standing in a rain of these problems, soaking wet. This kind of rain leaves you in a vulnerable state.

Let’s say you are trying to get to work, or school, or a meeting and you turn up soaking wet, everyone will look at you in a funny way. You yourself will feel some kind of way. Now imagine turning up to work or school or in a meeting soaking wet in fear, anxiety, low self esteem, troubles and worries. How will that make you feel? How will that affect your day? I hope you understand what I’m saying. We need to start using our umbrella so that we would be covered from every rain that is trying to bring us down. The umbrella symbolizes God. God covers us from all our burdens and anxieties. Psalm 91 says that “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Let me rephrase that…He who dwells under the umbrella of the Most High will remain covered by the Almighty. Scriptures like 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” and Philippians 4:6 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” helps us to understand that God is always present. In conclusion the Bible is saying God is the answer to everything and we need to be under Him and under His presence.

Let God cover you from getting wet. Walk through that rain of pain and let people wonder, why is she still dry and confident. Walk through the rain of insecurity and let people know that you are under an umbrella. Let the rain of anxiety slide off that umbrella and fall to the ground so people will ask themselves, why is he smiling when he should be in his room hiding. Use your umbrella, lift it up and cover yourself with it. When it rains and you have an umbrella, the rain slides and falls to the ground but then guess what? We walk through that rain and we step on the wet ground…the same ground the rain fell on. Yes, that is you stepping on the problems that fell off the umbrella. You have the power to trample over the serpents and scorpions (Luke 10:19) so walk with authority and start trampling. All I’m saying is put God above and in charge of all your problems, and He will not disappoint you. May God bless you as you walk through this rain. Have a lovely week.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we thank you for our lives and for your protection. We thank you for letting us read this today. Lord we ask that you become our umbrella and keep us from being wet and soaked in the issues of life. Let us walk through a rainy day with our umbrellas held up and with confidence. We bless your name, in Jesus name we pray with thanksgiving, amen.