Bring an umbrella!

Do we prepare for the hard seasons the bible says are inevitably coming?

There are loads of things that we all prepare for right. Do you remember that exciting time when you would prepare for a new school year and just had to buy all new equipment? Because obviously all the equipment from the year before had just 'vanished'. Or when you go on holiday. We prepare all the documents that are needed throughout the trip. We also ensure we have everything that we need when packing and go shopping for anything we don't have. This preparation for a holiday can go on for weeks!

Or when your kids go to school and you have to make sure they have their PE kits, their lunch, their homework, their books, their pens and pencils. Or even in the event of our death. We prepare by making a Will. We prepare when we are invited for a job interview; scrolling through google to find questions they may ask and preparing the answers. We prepare for our retirement years in advance; putting a percentage of our wages away. When we know it's going to be a scorcher... Well, we prepare by making sure we have lots of water! Just like my adorable friend Jonah on a hot August day (see picture). And if we know it's going to rain we bring an umbrella!

We know these things will happen and we sensibly prepare for them.

So why is it that when it comes to spiritual things, we are less likely to prepare for them? I was sitting in my garden today and it hadn't rained for weeks. But yet I still saw plants and trees flourishing! None of them looked dead or dying; which is what you might expect as plant life needs water to survive. So how could this be? I'll come back to this later.

Hard times will come

If you have lived a while here on Earth, you will know it can suck and that really difficult things happen that are extremely painful. Life can sometimes feel like we are being dragged along with no way out. It is very clear that Jesus knows we will have difficult and painful times too. So what are we meant to do knowing that we will have tough times in this life? Are we meant to just enjoy the good times and just wait for the bad to come? Just wait to be dragged along another painful road. Or are we meant to prepare somehow? And if so, how?

Jonah being dragged

There are many stories in the bible whereby people prepared for hard times. God gave a dream to Pharaoh saying a great famine was coming for 7 years. Pharaoh, knowing this, appointed Joseph to prepare for this. He got him to take a percentage of the crops and save it until the time of the famine. This saving of the grain and crops allowed the land of Egypt to have food when everywhere else didn't. That's just one story out of many!

Now I don't believe we can 100% prepare for such things like untimely deaths, life changing accidents, illnesses ( both physical and mental) or broken relationships that feel like they come out of nowhere.

I do, however, believe we can lay a solid foundation for us to stand on in those times.

One that will carry us through when we can't rely on the things we used to, to get us through. There are a couple of ways I believe that we can prepare for 'life' that help us to stay afloat when the storm is raging all around us and you think there is no way you can survive.

The most important thing to start with is what we are building our 'houses' on? In Matthew 7 he is describing when Jesus gives a parable (a story that has a spiritual lesson) about a wise man and foolish man and where they build their houses. Now this 'house' Jesus is talking about is a metaphor for our lives. In this parable, Jesus describes the wise man as one who hears His words and does them, then links this to the wise man building his house on a rock. This is a good thing as Jesus goes on to say that when the rain, the floods, and the wind come the house will not fall because of what it is built on. Now Jesus says the man that hears His words and does not do them is foolish, it is like building his house on the sand. Obviously, you can imagine what will happen to this house when the storms come #gone.

Allowing God to change you

I can remember saying to someone when I was first saved that I would never be angry at God. Fast forward a few months... I was angry at God haha. I was so adamant that I would never be mad at God. But God uses things in our lives to graciously show us how firm our foundations really are. He tears back the things in our lives to show us what our core beliefs are when things are stripped away. The church environment I was in at the time made me feel guilt and shame about not being so full of faith; I would really condemn myself for things like this. What I didn't realise at the time was 1) condemning yourself is not what God wants and 2) it actually drives a wedge between you and God, rather than making you lean into Him.

I have learnt through the years that God reveals these things not to judge or condemn us. But to show us where we are actually at and to give us an opportunity to grow more in faith. When God highlights something in my life, instead of retreating in guilt, I push more into God and allow the situation to change me for the better. To put my faith in action and choose to believe the promises God has given me (and all of us). A big part of this is knowing what His promises are. And this only comes from reading His living and active Word (the bible). We have to dedicate time to reading the words He has left for us and understanding the meaning of it when it was written and the meaning for us now in 2023.

In doing this and allowing God to show me the areas that can grow in faith through the years, I believe helped me through my mental struggles when everything I knew was stripped away. If I didn't allow God to change and grow my faith in different areas, I truly believe that walking through those seasons would have been much more difficult.

I can't tell you how much faith in God's promises transcends the difficult seasons in your life!

The amount of hope, comfort and love, that I know to be true, showed up more than ever in these hard times of my life. I would love to challenge you not to walk away from an opportunity to grow in faith in different areas. I know they will strengthen you and prepare you (somewhat) for the hard seasons in life that are coming. This is one way we can 'bring our umbrella' to prepare for the storm.

Who are you surrounding yourself with?

Another area I believe that is important to prepare for is the people you have around you. So let's look at some scripture and see what it says about the benefits of having good friends and family around you, especially when going through a difficult season:

In Ecclesiastes 4:10 it states that 'if one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.'

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says 'Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.'

Proverbs 18:24-25 says 'One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.'

John 15:12-15 says 'This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.'

Galatians 6:2 says 'Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.'

My friends praying for me

When life happens and pain comes, the people you have chosen to surround yourself with can either help you or hinder you.

When I went through mental health issues a few years back, I remember not being able to face even thinking about small things, like making a meal. My mental capacity had diminished and the only way I can describe it is it was like my brain had broken. It was the worst thing to go from such a high functioning individual to struggling with the simplest of daily tasks. During this time, I can remember not being able to pray, not being able to read the Word and not being able to see many people.

My overarching memory of that time... my friends that gathered around to pray for me, that made me meals, that came and just sat with me.

See, even though I couldn't pray, I knew I had a community of people praying for me. And even in my state, deep down, I was so thankful for them at the time. That they were picking up the fight for me when I couldn't do it myself!

The times in life that leave you leaning on those around you and living step by step, moment by moment are the times when you have to draw from the foundations you have already laid. And if those foundations are made of sand, you will be walking through painful times questioning the nature of God and His promises. This can leave you feeling so incredibly alone rather than knowing His immeasurable love and transcendent comfort in the most difficult of times.

Back to the plants in my garden

So I researched how plants can still thrive in tough and dry environments. Plants have adapted in different ways. But some ways that stood out to me were these: 1) Some plants have long main roots that grow vertically down to reach deep under the ground to absorb water and 2) some reserve water.

Every time we lean on God, every time we choose to believe a promise God has given us instead of the situation around us, every time we nourish our souls with the living Word of God, we are growing our 'roots' deeper in Him.

Mark 4:17 warns us what happens if we don't have roots in Him, especially in difficult seasons... 'But since they have no roots, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.'

Here are some scriptures about growing our roots in Him and the promises attached with them;

Colossians 2:7 tells us 'Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.'

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says 'But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.'

Psalms 1:3 says 'He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and it's leaf does not wither.In all that he does, he prospers.'

So...

Let's be sure to 'bring an umbrella' and prepare by digging deep in Him and His word. Allowing Him to grow us. Also investing time in good friends and family. John 10:10 says 'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.'

Jesus wants us to have life to the full!

And I believe that means even in our pain and struggles. Now that may look different to what we might expect. But in my experience, it means He will bring a slice of life when there seems to be no life. It means He will bring colour in the darkest of days. It means He will bring hope when everything around you screams there is no hope!