I stepped out of my cozy car onto the driveway, high heels on my boots sinking into the soft gravel.

The night was chilly and dark. No stars shone. And it was raining.

How often in life have I been forced out of my cozy comfort zone, to step out into a dark night? And then the rain begins.

Maybe you’ve been there. You don’t see any stars to guide you in the darkness surrounding you… it’s chilly… and then it starts to rain.

Circumstances you would never choose pelt down on you. The ground beneath you becomes less firm as showers of doubt, fear, and anxiety fall around you.

Let’s be real here, most of us don’t enjoy a cold, rainy night.

But this evening, I was inspired by the rain. Because rainfall holds the promise of spring.

Winter has been here so long, and although it’s cold & gray, we’ve gotten comfortable in it. Winter’s frozen, snow-covered landscape is barren, but winter is safe. Because it is familiar… but it’s not where we desire to stay forever, either.

So when I felt the rain, I got excited. Finally! This rainy night, although unpleasant, is vital to ushering in spring.

The snow needs assistance in its departure. The grass needs a nudge to wake up.

Rain holds promise.

So, if you’re existing in what seems to be an endless winter, and now it’s raining…

Don’t lose hope. Hold on.

It may feel like too much if you were already exhausted from the winter, but this rain is what you need to experience to get to the spring.

The only way to win battles is to fight them.

You can’t cross mountains without climbing them.

You won’t reach the other side of the valley without going through it.

And the transition from winter to spring cannot come without the rain.

The arrival of the rain means it’s time for that snow to melt… time for the dormant grass to be watered and spring up…

It might be pouring rain tonight, and so very dark and cold. But night always breaks into morning, and winter always gives way to spring.

The darkest hour comes just before dawn. The rain must fall to melt winter’s snow.

Progress is not made without pain.

So face the rainfall with excitement instead of being crushed beneath the added weight. Spring is nearly here!

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth, shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19