We arrived in Africa during the dry season, and soon the season of long rains (also known as “winter”) is right around the corner. Everyone keeps threatening that the rains are almost here. Our neighbor, who speaks very limited English, refers to the rains as “she” and keeps insisting, “the rains, she is coming.” For sure, it’s a couple of degrees cooler in the early morning and when the sun goes down at night. Every afternoon I have to bring in my laundry a little earlier because the sun goes behind the clouds, and I keep thinking that it’s going to pour. It’s markedly windier in the afternoon as well. But, aside from a few raindrops here and there, the rains have not yet come.

We’re not sure what to expect of this season. We’ve heard that with the rains come big hail, which can ruin crops that have been planted. The man who did most of the building of our house also dug deep trenches along the border fence in our back yard, because our yard slopes that way and he believes that the rains will surely wash our front yard away. He advised that we have shovels ready to dig out the trenches and replace the soil up front as needed during the long rains.

To everything, there is a season. Sometimes you know what to expect, and sometimes you don’t. Even when you think you know what’s coming, you might end up surprised. After all, His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts. No matter what a season of life is bringing to us–and whether or not things arrive at the time we expect or in the way we anticipate–we can’t go wrong by continuing to trust and abide in the Lord. Whether it’s a peaceful season or a stormy one, God is faithful and He will work all things for our good and His glory.