Bring The Rain

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I woke up this morning to hard rain, beating against the house. A dark, wet Monday.

We need the rain here.

Everything looks clean when rinsed with rain.Lush. Moist. Life giving.

I know there are people in our country that long for a good, hard rain.

Dry cracked ground. Brown. Hot. Dying.

The rain would be a gift. Please rain.

Instead there is fire. Burning. Licking flames. Destroying all they had.

In other parts of the country, not long ago, hurricane rains ravaged.

Swollen creeks and rivers washed away all that was.

And they were left with nothing.

Rain. It’s the same, the world over…

The amount, is what changes things.

“…The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
   may the name of the LORD be praised.”  Job 1:21  NIV

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I’ve been thinking of a blog post that I reread recently. It was written by Sara Frankl, an (in) Courage writer, who died this past Saturday night….from a harsh, and unrelenting disease that robbed her of living a “normal” life.  Her words echo back to me from a post written a couple of years ago. The rain reminds me of it…

“But like Chan pointed out on page 114, people in the Bible who wholeheartedly followed God “were far from perfect, yet they had faith in a God who was able to come through in seemingly dire situations.” I always believed I had that faith… but mine was a faith of conditions. I had faith He would take care of me, but I assumed that meant I would be cared for with good health. I had faith that I would prosper, and assumed that meant my career would follow a good path. I had faith that He wanted the best for me, and assumed that meant my life would unfold in a way I envisioned.

But as the years progressed and I lost more and more of what I thought defined me, as I found myself in the hospital, unemployed and on disability, I realized that being a servant meant all or nothing. A line was drawn in the sand and I had to choose my fear, or I had to choose to completely trust Him. It had to be an all or nothing choice because one cannot exist if the other is true.” —- Sara Frankel (Gitzen Girl)

If you’d like to read her entire blog post (and I recommend it!) you can zip over to it here.

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*I am thankful for Sara. A young woman who knew Jesus, had a servant’s heart, and reached out to others far beyond the confines of her home.

*I am thankful for words that touch me.

*For a God that understands.

*For a life that is not perfect, but is enough.

*For times that bring me to my knees, so all I can do is look up.

*For rain. Glorious rain.

*For water that brings life.

*For friends far and wide, although we may never meet in person, whose words touch my soul.

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