How Do You View The Rain?

A few nights ago, we experienced a heavy thunderstorm in our area which made it a little more difficult than usual to get a five-year-old and a three-year-old to go to sleep. As difficult as it may have been to get the children to sleep I didn't mind it that much. Thunderstorms can create some great conversational moments with preschoolers. Such was the case for me and my five-year-old that night.

"Daddy, the thunder means that God is strong."

"That's right," I replied.

"And the lightning means that God is fast."

"I guess you are right," said I, startled at how a five-year-old came up with that one and a little embarrassed that I had never noticed that before. After a somewhat lengthy pause to allow for my brain to grasp hold of this sudden burst of genius from my five-year-old, I realized we had not yet discussed the rain.

"What about the rain?" I asked.

After giving it some thought, the question was returned to me, "I don't know. What does the rain mean?"

My reply went something like this: "The rain means God is good and kind. We need the rain for the plants and flowers to grow. The rain shows us that God loves us."

That concluded our conversation, but I have since given it more thought. I have wondered what adults in general would think about this "thunderstorm to God" comparison. I believe most would accept the idea that the thunder means that God is strong. After all, there is a word used in church that is attributed to God that says God is all-powerful. That word is "omnipotent." I also believe most would accept the comparison that the lightning means that God is fast. In fact, God is so fast that He is everywhere. The church word for that is "omnipresent." But the "thunderstorm to God" comparison may begin to differ among adults when it comes to the rain. What does the rain mean?

As you recall, I told my five-year-old that the rain means that God is good and kind and that the rain shows us that God loves us. Admittedly however, I haven't always felt that way about the rain. There have been times when I thought the rain was unfair. As I look back to when I was a child at an age not much older than my five-year-old, I remember my baseball games being canceled because of rain. I couldn't go outside to play when it rained. There were times that I hated the rain. So, sometimes I have seen the rain as a blessing and sometimes I have seen it as a curse.

Jesus once said, "For he (God) gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too (Matthew 5:45b, NLT)." I think this verse means that good and bad people experience good and bad times. None of us are immune to difficult circumstances in life; neither are we entitled to only good circumstances. Whether we see our current state of affairs as showers of blessings or a deluge of cursing all depends on how we view the rain.

Jesus tells the story of two individuals, one wise and one foolish (Matthew 7:24-27). I believe they both had the goal of living a successful and a happy life. However, they differed in their approach to achieve the same goal. The first man was a wise man. This man built his house on the firm foundation of solid rock. When the rains came, the floods rose, and the wind beat against the house, the house survived because of its foundation. The second man was a foolish man. This man was not concerned with the foundation as evidenced by the house he built on the sand. When the rains came, the floods rose, and the winds beat against the house, the house was demolished because of its foundation.

The foundation -- that is your vantage point! My foundation is my vantage point from which to view the rain. Like a house, the foundation is the part of you that is unseen. It is the core of who you are. Take away the bricks, the mortar, the decorations, the wood, and there underneath it all is the foundation. There is your vantage point. There is where you find out if you have what it takes to withstand the storms. From there you look out at the rain, the floods, the wind, and the lightning. There is where you hear the thunder, and there is where you either see the rains as showers of blessings or a deluge of cursing.

What is your foundation? What is your vantage point? Jesus said that we are like that wise man if we live according to what we hear from Him. On the other hand, we are like the foolish man when we hear from Him, yet we don't do what he says. We can all hear the words of Jesus, but our survival in the storm depends on whether or not we live what we have heard.

The rain will come, if it hasn't already. It is bound to happen. When it does, look deep within before you look out. Get down to your core. Get down to your foundation. That's the vantage point from which to view the storm. If you have not been putting into practice what you have heard Jesus say, then you will view the rain as unfair, even though we are neither immune to difficult days nor entitled to only good days. If that remains your view, you run the risk of developing an increasing anger toward God and the crumbling of relationships all around you. On the other hand, if you have been putting into practice what you have heard Jesus say, then when you look outward toward the storms you will see that indeed God is good and kind and that he loves you. You will see showers of blessing in spite of the storm!

You know, that thunderstorm the other night was a shower of blessing because of the things my five-year-old taught me.

"The thunder means that God is strong." That's right!

"The lightning means that God is fast." You are right!

"The rain means....." Well now that depends. How do you view the rain?