This spring when our lone gardenia bush was in glorious full bloom I was so enjoyed seeing it each day. Gardenias were my mom's favorite flower, and each cut bloom held her memory. Mornings I would bring a couple indoors, and the lovely fragrance would fill the room. Then the rains came. Overnight every single flower was washed away. 

They had a beautiful marriage for sixteen years and two sweet children. Late one afternoon, coming home from the grocery store, she was hit broadside by a truck that ran a stop sign and killed her instantly. And then the rains came.

He went into work, business as usual, when his superior walked in and said, "Clean out your desk; I'm sorry but we are cutting back".  And then the rains came.

The rains don't last forever although when we're in the midst of a storm it surely feels like they will. It's a fact there is always a rainbow when it rains, even when we don't see it. The sun/Son is always shining behind the heavy rain clouds.

The loss of the flowers on the gardenia bush was no big thing, just a miniscule blip on the radar, as was the lovely crop of wild sunflowers that were drowned and flattened by a flash flood. They did serve as an illustration, however, and a reminder that when we have our hopes and plans dashed we have a God of the 'suddenlies' who can turn things around (Genesis 50:20). The Lord will redeem what has been lost after the rains come (Joel 2:25).

That is good news.