Tuesday Brief
General Superintendent Max Edwards & Judy
May 12, 2026 April Showers Bring May Flowers As a boy in elementary school, I learned the simple rhyme, “April Showers Bring May Flowers.” Little did I know how rich a meaning lie in those simple words. Actually, I remember them being twisted into a bit of a silly riddle, the text of which went like this: “If April showers bring May flowers, what do may flowers bring? Pilgrims, of course! (Mayflowers 😊) But seriously, I was not told to slow down and learn the important spiritual truth conveyed in the nursery rhyme – that God has a rich plan for us, and even when the skies are stormy, and everything becomes drenched with rain, a harvest of beauty comes on the other side of the period of hardship. “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand … My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” James 5:7-11
The writer of the simple rhyme, “Sweet April Showers Spring May Flowers” was Thomas Tusser in 1557. He published the poem in his “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandrie.” He was a believer in God’s divine providence and blessing, and mentioned the LORD over and again in his “Almanac” of sorts. In chapter 107, he wrote: “O God, thou glorious God, what god is like to Thee? What life, what strength is like to thine, [that] all the world may see? The heavens, the earth, the seas, and all Thy works therein, Do shew (to who Thou wouldst to know) what thou hast ever been!” In other words, to those who look and wish to see, God has revealed Himself. He alone is Sovereign, and His fingerprints are clearly seen in creation, earth, and sky. And even when we think that the clouds and the wind and the rain are our enemies, in God’s perfect wisdom, they are pouring out blessings we will one day see, though we may not be able to see them just now.