Monsoon Rains!

I saw an article on the Internet this week that reminded me of the weather we experienced while in India. Philip Dongre, the Executive Director of Children's Fellowship of India assured me last fall when we made the decision to travel to India in mid August of this year that the majority of the monsoon rains would be over by then. When we experienced a number of days of heavy rain (leaving much of CFI's campus quite water logged), he again assured me that this was not the norm. I was not convinced - until I saw this Internet article. According to this article, Mumbai has received 2,896 mm of rain since June 1st. Now that did not really register with me ... so I got my calculator out and converted the millimeters to inches. The result? 2,896 mm = 114 inches! Now that is a lot of rain! (here in eastern PA we receive, on average, approximately 43 inches of precipitation in a year) And, according to the report I read, August was the rainiest of the three months! (and the rain is not over yet!)

Now how does this compare (114 inches of rain and counting) with a normal monsoon season in India? Up until this year, the record rainfall for a monsoon season was 105 inches (set back in 1983). So you as you can see, Philip was quite right. This was not a normal Monsoon season.

But life is like that, isn't it. The "seasons" we experience are not always "normal." We face trials of many kind that interrupt the ebb and flow of the seasons of our lives. But this should not surprise us. It should be something for which we learn to be thankful! Really? Absolutely. It is true that trials are never easy to go through. They hurt! And sometimes they hurt a lot! So am I a masochist? Do I love pain for pain's sake? Not at all. But God tells us that there is great benefit to suffering. In James 1:2-4 we read,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Suffering is to be welcomed (and even REJOICED in) because of what it will do in our lives .... developing in us a perseverance which in turn will help us to grow in our faith. So the next time your current "season of life" is interrupted by a trial of some sort - view it for what it can be - "growing pains!"

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj