RAIN!

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36; Romans 1:18-32; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 19:6-7

“O nations of the world, recognize the Lord, recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.”

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Praise God! Wednesday night, I barely got an hour’s worth of sleep. I tossed and turned, prayed and even tried biofeedback relaxation, but it was no use. Now, this could have been irritating. Certainly, Thursday was a long day. But it was well worth it. I spent the time listening to the rain, and giving thanks for every drop. Those who don’t live in San Antonio probably won’t appreciate how it felt to once more get even a little bit of moisture from the heavens. However, we are in the midst of the absolutely driest eighteen month period in the city’s history, so any rain at all is a real blessing.

Eighteen months without any appreciable rainfall is a very long time. Fall crops were nonexistent. Farmers who are braving conditions to attempt a spring crop have to irrigate extensively first just to get the land to accept the seeds. Our water supply is showing signs of falling to dangerously low levels. Even the trees – many of which are hundreds of years old - are wilting. We had one of the warmest winters on record. Already, the city has seen the 90s this month, and the promise is summer will be a real scorcher. But Wednesday night, at least, it seriously rained. The very foreignness of the sound kept me up, and it was wonderful. This all happened, incidentally, the same week the stock market jumped up almost 400 points in one day, and several major banks announced profits for the first time in several years. Again, praise God. A lot of folks were beginning to think He didn’t care.

Now, of course, it’s way too early to say if this front will prove to be a real “drought buster,” and it’s pretty unlikely the economy has fully hit bottom quite yet, but that’s kinda the point. No one ever accurately predicts the end to a drought, and markets are even more fickle. In the middle of it all, though, the Spirit remains and blesses those wise enough to have an eternal perspective and the endurance only Christ can provide. They maintain a divine balance. Even in the center of a storm, they can still recall the drought, and they find a reason to give thanks.

Here is what I think. We have had enough negativism and panic for ten generations. There is absolutely no denying the severity of the very real adversities we face, and it would be intellectually dishonest to try. But the fact that we continue to obsess over them is literally eating us alive.

So, let’s get a few things straight in our heads. First, we’re still here, and just that is saying something. Survival remains a good thing that can be a major accomplishment to be celebrated, even on its own. Second, while we may not have a choice about what we have to deal with on a practical basis, we can darn sure choose what we are going to dwell on and think about most often. Christ still sends us signs of hope on a daily basis. He needs to be our focus, because He is our only real Savior. My plan is to become a lot more intentional about finding reasons to express joy. Leave the “gloom and doom” to those who do not know the Lord and have a real reason to despair.

God is good. God is love. His steadfast love endures forever. It brings with it forgiveness for our sins and a new strength and purpose, a whole new perspective, in fact. Too many of us have let the gift slip through our fingers as we have been too consumed with grasping for other things. Circumstances will change; that much is certain. There are a lot of “downs” in life, to be sure, as there are times of euphoria, but through it all, there is only the Spirit. Those who cling to Him hang on to life itself. Nothing else really lasts; nothing less ever fully sustains, much less re-invigorates and makes all things new. We can absolutely be agents of life and beacons of hope. But only if we stop dwelling on the drought and the markets and intentionally invite the Author and Perfecter of life back into the equation.  Today is a good time to begin. Who says Friday the thirteenth has to be unlucky? Every day can be a blessing, if we know where to look.