Friday, September 14, 2012

Rain

I love rain.

I love rain when I'm curled up under a blanket by a fire in the fireplace with a good book and a cup of mint tea.

I love rain when I'm piled on the couch with my family watching an old favorite movie.

I love rain when I'm snuggled under my covers about to fall asleep.

I love to sit on the porch and watch the drizzle of a rain so soft you can't even hear it.  I love to lie on my pillow and listen to the pounding of a downpour.  I love the thunder and the lightening and the clouds and the wind and the puddles.

I love rain.

I also hate rain.

I hate rain when my alarm goes of at 5:30 and the sound of it on the window makes me want nothing more than to go back to sleep.

I hate rain when the clouds cover the sun so it's still dark when I walk out the door in the morning.

I hate rain when it's cold and the wind blowing the drops against my face feels like I'm being slapped with a thousand tiny needles.

I guess you could say I have a love/hate relationship with rain.

I think we do the same thing with rain in our lives--rain and storms that come in the form of trials.  We're okay with them as long as they're outside and we're inside.  We can look ahead at the possibility of facing trials and be fairly confident.  We quote verses about how God works even in the hard things:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

We know and believe these easily enough when we're safe inside our house, watching the rain at a distance.  When we're not in the middle of them, we believe God can work through trials and make good come out of them.  At times like that, we might even say we like the rain.

But what happens when we're out in it?  What do we believe when the rain is slapping us in the face and chilling us to the bone?  If we're honest, in times like that, most of us hate the rain.  It hurts.  It's miserable.  It makes us want nothing more than to crawl back in bed and shut out the world.

The disciples were the same way.  Once, they were in a boat with Jesus and it started to rain.  They didn't like being out in it.

Matthew 8:23-26,
"Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke Him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!'  He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  The men were amazed and asked, 'What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!'"

The disciples didn't like being out in the rain.  It wasn't comfortable.  It was scary.  And Jesus was sleeping.  So they woke Him.  They woke Him in faith that He could save them from the rain.  And when He did, they were amazed and marveled at His power.  That's faith, right?

Not according to Jesus.  Jesus said they had "little faith".  You see, their faith was based on the rain stopping.  But what about when the rain was still falling?  What about when Jesus was sleeping?  The disciples had not yet learned a very important truth:

Jesus was not any less God when He was sleeping than He was when He was calming the storm.

Do we believe that?  We believe in His power and His goodness and His love when He makes the rain stop.  But do we believe in that same power and goodness and love when He lets it continue?  When it seems like He's sleeping in the middle of our storms, do we still have faith?

This morning when I left for work, it was raining and cold and dark.  All I wanted was to go back to bed.  As I turned on my windshield wipers and grumbled to myself about the rain, the Lord whispered to my spirit a truth I hope I never forget:

"Learn to love this rain, too."

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