I am not a big fan of the rain. I like the results of rain and understand its importance, but definitely do not enjoy the whole experience of rain. Rain is gloomy, it makes me tired, and it is very inconvenient. As a sign I am getting old, my joints ache when it rains, especially my knees and right hip.
Rain is one of the few things that can cancel golf for me or even cause me to leave a course early. I have golfed in the rain, but usually only for the benefit of someone else or as part of a golf scramble. Once it starts really raining, I'm done.
When we sing songs asking God to rain on us in church I always pause. Truth is, I don't want God to "rain" on me. It's not enjoyable to have God "rain" on my parade or to experience His "rain." I understand the intent of most of these songs are for refreshing and an outpouring of Him. Just the concept of rain always gets me because I don't like the rain.
I think there are a lot of things like rain in our spiritual lives. God wants to come in and cleanse something from us. He wants to wash us and restore us. Sounds great. Experience tells me it is not always the most enjoyable time to walk through, much like a rain storm. It is inconvenient, it is uncomfortable, it is hard to see, we tend to be grumpy, we lack zeal and energy, we get tired. Sometimes it hurts. Why? Because God is doing a deep work within us that is causing us to be confronted with ourselves and our shortcomings. He is asking us to change and remove things. He is leading us into a deeper and fuller understanding of Him and of ourselves. We are never consulted about whether or not it is a good time to do this. It is always on His schedule. Much like when rain pops up when I am supposed to golf; I didn't order that!
The cool thing is what happens after those periods. Things really are refreshed and rejuvenated. Growth is taking place and beauty is seen. Everything is a bit softer and brighter. We sense life and feel in tune and harmony.
As much as I don't like rain, I love the results; in nature and in the spiritual.
What are your thoughts?
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Whenever I think of rain in a siritual sense I am reminded of a video I saw back in high school. Rob Bell had just started doing these videos he called NOOMA and the first one is called Rain. While I do not believe everything he has to say theologically I think he makes some good points in the video. If you have not seen it you can see it here.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYKa9E1xzao