I recently announced to my visiting relatives, "In one night we received nearly an inch of rain!" They laughed. Coming from the Pacific Northwest an inch seems like nothing. But from the desert of Colorado it is everything.
I don't know why, but when the rain sets in to stay for the evening, I sleep really well. Maybe its because of the nostalgia it emits from my childhood where rain was part of everyday life. Or perhaps it is simply the comfort of its rhythm bathing the earth in green. At any rate, I've taken great delight in our recent rains. They seem to speak volumes of God's mercy on our parched land.
But the cool moisture of outside has entered my heart as well, because "before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear". (Isa. 65:24) I've been treading some dry ground lately, but just in time, the rains have come. God has poured out his mercy in my life and shown me that He is not silent, but rather, very much on the move.
In a week that seemed overwhelming, God surprised me with some answers. I was at an orientation meeting at the high school, a rather mundane, ordinary, been there, done that, sort of meeting, when out of the blue a contact was made for my daughter. A contact I've been seeking for almost a year.
God surprised me with yet another answer. Not ahead of time, but just in time, He opened the way for a crucial appointment I had struggled for weeks to obtain.
Still more, I thought the door was closed on an opportunity, but last week it opened and not just one door, but hints of two. I don't know why or how, but I believe God is cutting me off of ministry in one area so that I might be free for another. Something scary, something new, but a place I want to go because I know it means a burst of growth.
Because of my crazy, non-stop, activity laden week, I was running out of time to write my last chapter of a Bible study I've been teaching. But God opened up a time slot and enabled me to complete the writing in just a few hours. Furthermore, as I taught said lesson, I sensed the power of His Spirit flowing through me. Plus, God gave me an idea for an activity which cemented all the other lessons together. . . and the time to implement it.
And then there is last night, where a young man, a teenager of whom much has been invested, gave testimony of his faith through baptism. I was blown away. What a change has come over his life since we first met him. He leads his family in this step of faith.
Though I've felt spiritually barren these last months, God has given me His promise that He will bring me back to a season of fruitfulness. The last two lessons I've taught for kid's club just "happened" to be on God's promise to Abraham, that he would give him as many descendants as the stars in the sky. God was His shield and protector. Likewise, when Jacob ran into deep conflict with his brother Esau and had to flee to a far away land, God met him in the night with a promise. He would bring Jacob back to this land. It would not be gone to him forever, for God "knows the plans that He has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future." (Jer. 29:11)
When it rains it pours. God, though at times silent, is not aloof. Nor is He unaware. He sees. He knows. He waits until just the right time and then opens the floodgates of heaven to pour out His blessing on our hearts.
I often pray, Lord, open my eyes to see You. God is constantly moving in my life, but I do not always recognize it as from Him. What a shame to miss Him! Adjust the strings, Lord. Align my will with Yours, Jesus. Tune my heart into Your presence. Be lifted high in my life!
"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!"
Isaiah 30:18
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