Are You Soaking Up the Rain?

One of the most common complaints you hear about the Pacific Northwest is that it rains here, and rains and rains and rains. I suspect people in the tri-cities or eastern Oregon are a little chagrined by that accusation, but it is true enough west of the mountains. And we have heard all the jokes. "I spent the whole summer in Washington and had a wonderful day." "They have two seasons in the Northwest, wet and really wet." Or last year in Oregon 143 people fell off their bicycles and drowned."

But there is a good side to the rain. Things grow where the rain falls. Our grass is green all year. Flourishing vines decorate walls and fences. Nearly everyone has fruit trees. Whole neighborhoods burst into bloom every spring. Just walking up the street or driving through town can take your breath away. I have a ninety-foot Douglas Fir in my back yard. A nearby park has some at least a hundred and fifty feet tall. Our Library has a cutting from a Fir tree that was two hundred and eighty feet tall. And there are more like it growing near Snoqualmi pass. Trees only grow that tall where it rains and rains.

That is why God sends rain in your spiritual life and ministry. Sometimes they are only summer showers between the sun breaks. Sometimes they come in wild winter storms, crushing all resistance. But they are all for our good.

Hebrews 6:7 says,"Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God."

Are you in a small church that you wish were larger? Does your church have a thousand little problems that assail you from every direction? Do people criticize your leadership or your sermons? Recognize what God is doing in your life. He is developing your ministry. He may be making you a giant Redwood for the purpose of His kingdom.

Take advantage of the rain.

How are you receiving the rain? Are you drinking in the rain that He pours out on you? Do you take time in the midst of difficulty to ask God to show you what He is doing in your life? Just asking God to show you what He is doing might make the obedience of thanksgiving easier to bear

I love the wording of this verse, "Land that drinks in the rain." Most of us spend a great deal of energy and prayer trying to avoid difficult circumstances, wishing we could turn away the rains. James' injunction, "Count it all joy when you fall into many kinds of trials," can roll off my roof and out the gutter without disturbing my thoughts. Why would anyone rejoice in trouble?

Can you imagine a group of pastors talking at the coffee shop?

Pastor #1: "My church just voted to cut my salary by $50 a week. This may be the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me!"

Pastor #2 "I wish my church would be a little tougher on their pastors. Nothing that exciting ever happens in our business meetings."

Pastor #3: "Yeah, in my next church people will never follow my leadership. Then I can really rejoice."

That sounds pretty strange, but isn't that how James says we are to react to trouble? Most of us have not grown enough spiritually to rejoice over bitter things in our ministries, but we can understand what God says about it. And we can grow in that direction.

Fruit is worth the struggle.

We would all like God to grant success. And He does do that sometimes. But what you become under God's pruning is far more valuable to the kingdom than the gifts you are given. In John 15 Jesus painted this picture. He said He is the vine, you are the branches and our Father is the gardener. God cultivates your life by means of trials. You are the soil that God is working. How receptive is your heart?

Summer fruit follows the spring banquet of blooms. Fruit is the reason the trees are planted. Fruit is the means by which new trees are propagated. God uses trials to produce certain strengths of ministry. Spiritual insight increases when we see the face of God through crises. Real holiness comes from doing what is right when it seems impossible. Often the strength to endure what you face today comes from having been through the storms God sent last year. You can add to these strengths the whole range of spiritual fruit listed in Galations 5:22,23, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

God is cultivating fruit to feed the souls He has put in your garden. God is preparing you to share His comfort with others in difficulty. His grace through trials is at the heart of spiritual ministry in the church and in a hurting world.

The rain is God's approval.

In the rain you come to know the blessing of God's love. "Have you forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: 'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.'" (Hebrews 12:5,6) You have not yet crossed the finish line into the arms of your Father. But you can already hear Him encouraging your faithfulness, "Well done, well done. Keep on keeping on. I am waiting at the end with eternal rewards."

Is it raining at your house? Take advantage of the rain. Soak it up while it lasts. God is producing a wonderful crop in your life and in His church.