We need the rain

J. C. Ryle says:

“Winter as well as summer, cold as well as heat, clouds as well as sunshine; are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity. We do not naturally like this. We would rather cross the lake with calm weather and favourable winds, with Christ always by our side, and the sun shining down on our faces. But it cannot be like this. This is not the way that God’s children are made ‘partakers of his holiness’ (Heb. 12.10). Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Job were all men of many trials. Let us ne content to walk in their footsteps, and to drink of their cup. In our darkest hours we may seem to be abandoned, but we are never really alone....

"Let all true Christians take comfort in the thought that their Saviour is Lord of waves and winds, of storms and tempests, and can come to them in the darkest hour, 'walking upon the sea'. There are waves of trouble far heavier than any on the Lake of Galilee. There are days of darkness which try the faith of the holiest Christian. But let us never despair if Christ is our friend. He can come to our aid, at a time we thought impossible, and in ways that we did not expect. And when he comes, all will be calm."

(Expository Thoughts on John 6:15-21, The Classic NT Comm., p99f)