“Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I WILL proclaim the name of the LORD! Oh, praise the greatness of our God!” Deuteronomy 32:1-3
It rained today and I found it to be interesting. Today was not like any other day. It would be the first Saturday in eight years that I would not be leading a ministry project that is and was dear to my heart. It involved college students and their leaders who love Jesus joining college students who didn’t necessarily love Jesus or at least live for him. It involved a younger generation connecting with an older generation. It involved various ministries joining hands at one ministry event and as all of these things collided with the gospel of Jesus permeated the streets of a city that would be filled with darkness due to the infamous spring break season.
There are many reasons why I loved being a part of something so magnificent. It brought people together. It met physical needs. It sometimes saved a life physically and more significantly spiritually. It involved relationships and it was evangelistic. It impacted the young and the old. It left a mark on city officials, local ministries, national ministries, news media, business owners, and many more. But more importantly, it left a mark on me. It changed me in so many ways for good and to the Glory of God.
For so long I was very protective of something that had become dear to my heart. Like a mother with her child this ministry was considered “my baby.” But just as Hannah consecrated Samuel to the Lord, I too consecrated that particular ministry to the Lord. I had too! You see…it was so much bigger than me. I knew in my own strength I would never be able to care for it or meet all of the needs that accompany it. I loved it, I fought for it, and I kept it on the altar! In my heart I knew it always belonged to the Lord. It had fought much opposition in the first few years it was under my watch care as do most things that are uniquely anointed by God.
But…as the seasons change….a season in my life changed and as a result it would move me from no longer being able to instruct and lead what had been previously entrusted to me. It was all part of God’s unique plan for me and for it. Like a child graduates and proceeds to move forward into a new chapter of life…I and that ministry were graduating. It’s something that happens every single day.
So as the rain poured so hard today I felt like God was surrounding me with every single drop. I questioned how I could be in perfect peace knowing I was in the center of His will for my life yet have such a huge ache in my heart knowing I was missing something so dear to me today. It’s as if those heavy drops of rain were God crying with me. He knows all and sees all. He knew when my season of life changed what He was doing regardless of any human involvement or error. It was all part of his plan of making me better, which is why I am not bitter. I am in a good place and so much of being in that good place has allowed me to see and hear clearly from the Lord. It is a safe place. It is a healthy place. It is a place where I realized that our faith continues to be certain of things not yet known (Hebrews 11:1)
As the rain continues to fall I truly began to think about what is produced as a result of its visit? First, just as rain refreshes the earth the Lord refreshes His people. Psalm 68:9 says, “You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.” Are we allowing the love of God to refresh our hearts from life’s hurts, failures, and disappointments?
Secondly, as a result of the rain something will be reaped. There will be a harvest of something produced. The word reaping is often used when referring to tending to a crop. However, reaping is ultimately getting something as a result of something. However, what sometimes happens is that we can be blind to the actual harvest that is taking place as a result of not liking how it is being sown. Let me explain. Life threw a few curve balls over the past few years that I was not prepared for. It involved the loss of loved ones, allowing people entrance into my life that should have only been granted limited access, deceit, an attack of my character multiple times, and one other thing that flat out kept me in the counseling chair for almost a year as I learned to live again as a result of someone else’s poor choices. Why would God allow multiple things within a few years? Because through the tears and through the suffering we ultimately see HIM in a different light. Because we see HIM, we know him differently, walk with him differently, depend on him differently and live for him differently. We learn that God cried with us and that He is for us…which leads to a harvest.
Think about the tears that have been sown in your life? What could be the result of those tears as it relates to God’s harvest in your life? Is it a new ministry being birthed? Is it becoming a bride to the man God has for you instead of the one you picked out for yourself? Is it speaking in the prison, working with children, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or leading a grief ministry because you can relate to others whose lives have been stricken by death unexpectedly? Is it adopting? Could it involve pouring into people on a deeper level? Does it involve teaching, preaching, or even sacrificing something? Whatever it is we can allow the tears we have sown to reap something for good. We may not have had a choice in what caused the tears but we can have a choice in the harvest. I don’t know about you but I want the tears I have sown to be a harvest for the Glory of God!
The third thing that can be produced as a result of the rain is a harvest of righteousness within us. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” What would be the benefit of righteousness in our lives? Besides being morally good and religious, being righteous displays a life that is decent, honest, and honorable. It is descriptive of the life of Christ and as we seek to be more like him in our daily living we not only maintain a position of right standing before him, but with others and as an example to people who have yet to know him.
In 2 Samuel 23:3-4 God speaks through the prophet David and says, “When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after the rain that brings grass from the earth.” Did you catch that? When we chose righteous living through the Holy Spirit instead of our tainted earthly flesh that has the potential to act and react so nastily then we are like the “light of morning at sunrise…like brightness after the rain.” Imagine that for just a minute. Think about a nasty rain. Think about how it makes you feel sluggish, sometimes cold, and feeling blah. Now think about how great you feel when you see the sun peeking through your window and how the sunlight feels when it hits your skin on a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. Now think about your spiritual condition. Is it screaming storms or does your demeanor reflect the light of morning at sunrise?
Let me be clear. There is a time frame in which the sun may not shine as a result of what you are walking through or what you have been through. Yet there comes a time when you and I choose how long we remain there. For me some seasons took longer than others but at the end of the day I chose joy over sorrow. Not only did the Lord desire to exchange the sorrow for the joy but he desired to be my joy, my peace, my hope, and my constant companion.
The final thing that comes as a result of the rain is the rainbow. In Genesis 9:12-16 God tells us that the rainbow after the rain is a reminder of the covenant between him and the earth. He says, “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you (Noah) and all living creatures of every kind.” The rainbow that comes after the rain is always a reminder that God keeps his promises. Oh dear friends, I don’t know about you but we live in a day and age that a promise kept is so refreshing. To think that the Creator of the Universe, who knit us together in our mother’s womb, who gave up his life so you and I could live eternally would be so kind baffles me daily. I don’t know about you but it changes my perspective on a rainy day like today.