Let’s be honest, some days finals season actually feels like the end of the world.

If you’re like me, and I know most of you college students are, you are currently doing 6 group projects, writing at least 5 papers, have 3 presentations, and all of that is due before finals even start. Like, really!? There are just not enough hours in the day.

Some mornings when I wake up and look at my “To-Do” list, I want to just crawl back in bed. I mean, would my professors really notice if I missed class? Would my group project partners mind if I didn’t show up to any of our meetings? Probably not.

Just kidding. Definitely, 100 percent, yes. They would notice. They would be upset. And my grades would suffer.

Last week I woke up knowing my “To-Do” list was especially long and multiple deadlines were approaching. And to top it all off, it was POURING down rain. I so badly wanted to throw in the towel. I was prepared to take the L and just miss all of my obligations, including three classes and multiple meetings.

But something in me knew that in the long run, I would only be causing myself more stress if I hid away for the day. So, I forced myself to get out of bed, to put a smile on my face, and to brave the rain.

And you’ll never guess what happened.

I survived.

Actually, I would maybe even say I thrived. The rain went from a downpour to a drizzle by the time I got to class. My first professor let us out early. My second professor gave everyone lollipops. My third professor gave us extra credit. By the time my last class ended, the sun was shining so brightly I needed sunglasses, and when I drove to meet friends for dinner, a huge rainbow filled the sky.

I don’t know about you, but I call that a 10/10 day. And I would have missed literally all of it if I had decided to hide away in my room and skip out on the rainy, daunting morning.

I think a lot of my life, and probably yours to, is like a longer version of that day I had last week. Some seasons seem daunting and impossible to overcome. Relationships are hard. Making an effort just doesn’t feel worth it sometimes because we can’t see any possible positive outcomes.

But if we never braved the rainy mornings, we would always be keeping ourselves from the sunny afternoons and the rainbows in the sky.

The bible talks about this concept in the book of James. Long story short, James encourages us by telling us that we should actually celebrate our trials and our hard seasons of life because they lead to a much greater joy. Usually, we can’t see the joy in the beginning, but God reveals it to us later after we embrace the hardship.

So if you’re drowning in finals and projects and papers and stress right now, and you feel like you might never check everything off your “To-Do” list, take a deep breath.

You might not get straight A’s, but you WILL survive it all and you WILL feel so relieved and joyful when you get to the other side, just don’t give up before you have the chance to.

Trust me, the rainbow is worth the rain.