What do April Showers and May Flowers Have to do With Easter?

As I am writing this, I am looking at the little umbrella on the task bar that is telling me it’s raining, even though all I see is sunshine out my window. There is a common saying, we all know it, probably all of us have said it or at least heard it once; “April showers bring May flowers.” And probably most of us have seen this to be true. Though I am not a fan of extremely wet Aprils, or Marchs or for that matter any other month, I know there is a purpose for all the wet (rain or snow) weather. There have been a few years where the Pear trees along Bigger Rd have been absolutely brilliant. The wetter the spring, the more brilliantly white the blooms on the trees have been. I don’t know what the ratio is, I can never get it quite right when I am trying to grow plants, but I know that plants of all kinds need water for full abundant life to happen. That may seem like it has nothing to do with us, or with Easter. But in looking at the little umbrella on my task bar and the sunshine outside I was reminded of the saying….so I googled it. I never knew it was just the first line of a poem by Lynn Bleau. April Showers bring May flowers,So don’t fret about the rain.Before you know, There will be a glow,Of sun once again. April showers bring May flowersSo snuggle in your bedAnd know that todayMay be full of grayBut the sun is shortly ahead. April Showers bring May flowersBut April is once a yearSo watch the rain,On your windowpane, And wipe that silly tear April Showers bring May flowers, But don’t waste the day.So dance around, On the muddle wet ground,And get outside and play! Although this is clearly for children, as I read through the poem, I quickly drew a correlation between the poem and Easter. Before we can get to Easter, there is a spiritual rain that happened in Jesus’ life. It’s not just rain, it’s a tornado, hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, erupting volcano, sever thunderstorm (you know the kind you must run for shelter) an avalanche and any other kind of disaster, all taking place at the exact same time. We can barely survive one disaster at a time, not alone the whole world crashing down on us. We can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for Jesus. I would like to think that Jesus, in His infinite divine wisdom, was able to say this is just rain, flowers are on the way. But what He went through is so horrendous, I can’t imagine Him thinking about anything other than the love that was carrying Him through the immediate pain of what He was going through. Yet! He made it through, without giving up on the plan that the God Head had set in motion when Jesus left Heaven. Despite the pain and humiliation that He was going through, He kept His eye on the prize, you and me. As I think about the example that Jesus set before us, and that cute little saying. (One I will forever, remember with this little line… “So snuggle in your bed”). I know that scriptures teach us to hold on, to be as Jesus was, to cling to the hope we have in Christ, no matter what the weather is like, or the little icon on the task bars of our lives is saying. Hold on, be faithful, stay true to the plan set before us because if we persevere, we will live in the victory of the abundant life that God has planned for us. Not only do I see this encouragement in the Easter story and in the that cute little children’s poem. I see it in scripture.  Read with me just a few of the verses that encourage us to hold on, to stick with the plan, to keep on the path, to be faithful in your journey with our Father. Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."Philippians 3:13-14 "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."Hebrews 10:3 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful."James 1: 2-4 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."Proverbs 4:25-26 "Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure."Stay encouraged, no matter what you are going through, keep your eyes focused on Jesus for He has made the way for us, and will be with us as we face this life.