Normally this title sentence ends with “pours”, meaning when it rains, it comes down and you cannot help but get wet. However, I found it may be appropriate to instead use the word “floods”. When it rains, it floods, at least in many parts of Cambodia. Sometimes the rain comes in slowly, increasing intensity little by little until it is an absolute downpour. Other times the sky is clear and within minutes the rain is so intense that you cannot see where you are going, and you are just as wet as you would be had you dove into a swimming pool. Either way, the streets of Phnom Penh transform from concrete pathways carrying thousands of motorbikes and vehicles into knee-deep rivers with banks seeping into the homes or storefronts lining the sides of the roads.
This commonly known expression, “when it rains, it pours (floods)” is not referring to physical rain. It is a saying to represent that when troubles happen, it is common that the troubles are intense or that many come at once. Clearly it is not intended to provide solution or offer comfort, but merely confirmation that sometimes this happens. We have all been in a situation before where this phrase resonates.
“Floods” is different though, more meaningful to what it may really be like. When the troubles hit, and there is more and more of them, sometimes it feels like you are getting buried in them. They flood making it seem like you are trudging through deep, dirty, heavy water severely slowing you down. You have to fight to move forward, growing wearier with every step. Sometimes your footing feels loose, and it seems like you could slip and fall at any moment. You cannot see where you are stepping and hope that the water is not deeper as you push forward.
Fortunately, floods eventually subside. The water clears, presenting the smooth concrete surface once again. The roads are lined with filth, dirt, and rubbish that the water pulled out of the nooks and crannies of the previously enveloped streets. The dirt and garbage that was previously pounded into the dirt and asphalt are now loosened from the water, and exposed after it subsides. Loosened and exposed.
It is certainly difficult to see the blessings that can come from the down-pour of troubles that bury us and prevent us from easily moving forward. We get caught up on the difficulty of enduring it instead of looking past it, seeing what will come after they subside. They make us stronger, they clean us, loosening all the guck that get mushed into our hearts. Troubles also expose our weaknesses so that we can see them, and hopefully grow stronger.
I know we can trust God to keep us from drowning when it does flood. I know that He will use my troubles to teach me, to grow me, the strengthen me. I hope to endure seasons of trouble with the view that this is a time of blessing, because God loves me enough allow me to have troubles.
Mike
Featured Image: Jeanine walking Rocket on the road after a rain storm.
