Rain

Rain.... one simple word can bring up many different pictures in one's mind... for some, days of depression and wishing for the sun; boredom and staying inside all day.... but for others the images are not so dreary.... some see gardens sprouting and flowers blooming.... lightning shows and the roll of thunder.... the feeling of freshness...

Anyone who knows me even a little probably knows that I belong to the latter group and that I absolutely love the rain :). Besides the usual feelings that rain brings as a fore mentioned; rain for me is always a reminder of God's love, mercy, and faithfulness.

Just as there are many types of rain there are many ways God shows us His love.

Sometimes He shows us gently and steadily, just as a drizzle will constantly remind you that the rain is there but will not drive you away.

Sometimes He urges us to search for Him and find Him, just like when you hold out your hands to catch as many raindrops as you can in the lightest of rains.

Sometimes the rain comes with a driving wind that is so powerful we have no choice but to run for shelter. Shelter not from the raindrops of God's love but from the wind of Satan's attacks.... in this situation we can make different choices: we can run for the false shelters we erect out of our own pride and "abilities", we can determine to face the wind alone (another choice made of pride), or we can run for the cleft of the Rock that is named Jesus and there rest in the assurance that as little or as much of the wind that that touches us there is exactly what Jesus knows is the best for us... even when it seems as if we may as well have stayed out in the full wind, the difference being the constant support our Rock gives us continually.

Sometimes the rain will come hard and steady but as there is no wind we stay and bask ourselves in it smiling and laughing and even running through it... a rain that seems to take all your troubles out of your heart and gives them to God.

And sometimes the rain is such that as one stands in it, burdened with more cares than they care to count, with a broken heart and a weary soul, as the tears stream down the sufferers face, the rain mixes with them as a testimony that God hears them and that he breaks with them.... He even cries with them....

Every time I walk out in the rain I hear these words "I am here. I love you. Look to me for your strength and I will give it to you." It is amazing how often I need this reminder, but fortunately God chooses to send the rain just as often :)

I hope that the next time it rains, even if you are not a rain lover, you will reflect on the goodness of God and let go of your burdens, seek God's face and remember that He loves for you, He cares for you, and He will never let you go.