Like Rain on Angel Wings

More rain....another dreary day?  Or another chance to wear red?  To brighten someone's day? 

Sure enough, this morning, the rains came again; the thunder struck just as I was headed out the door.  I looked up again from the safety of my apartment in awe.  Luckily I was using my trusty red purse and I could grab and go without adding accessories.  

Some days, I see no one in the office.  Just me, in my solitude.  Those are usually the days I am having a good hair day, or have pulled together a smart outfit.  Then there are those 'other' days...

Well, today my red purse and I were going to cheer someone up.  Lately we have been going through a drought of people needing help from the food pantry.  Yet the congregation has been stocking it steadily.  I've been praying that the food wouldn't sit neglected.  That it would be put to use. 

He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas. Psalm 102:17

The Lord has legions of angels waiting to be discharged at His command.

The phone rang and it was an elderly lady needing food.  Okay, Lord.  This is good.  She came through the rain and also told me she knew of a few more people who could use help.  Okay, Lord.  Three more elderly ladies came through the rain.  Bless them, Lord.  Then a young lady called with the electricity shut off in her home and all her food had gone bad.  Okay, Lord!  What is this!  I know I said send them, but FIVE in a row!  C'mon, can I get a break?  Can I EAT my lunch? 

Can't I just hang up my wings for an hour?

How many times when we're in a drought do we pray for rain and then complain when the rain comes?  You can't ask God to bless you and then send back the blessing after he has moved heaven and earth to make it possible.  

The opportunity to help these women was a blessing.  An opportunity to sow seed.  A prayer answered.  Not just a prayer to save the food from perishing.  But an chance that I might be blessed.  Not just a prayer to save someone's life who might be a widow, alone, resolved to thinking that no one cares about her and she should just starve and do the world a favor.  But a chance that I might be saved.  That even my soul might be touched by the wisdom of an elder to help me reach my purpose. 

Cornelius stared at him in terror. "What is it, sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God!" Acts 10:4

I resisted wanting to hurry them through, to fill up a bag or a box and send them away.  Yes, Lord, I hear you.  The time you spend with them is your meal, your chance to have a meaningful experience together.  We talked of food, of recipes.  Kitchen lore.  Life.  Families.  The stress and embarassment a person living in poverty has to endure can cause so many health problems.  I urged them to not be shy, to receive the help.  That we've gone through the same thing.  That we wanted to give it.  That we delighted in helping them. 

It brought me to nearly tears looking at the frail woman with the bowed back who could not open her hand anymore to release the can into her bag.  I thought about her sitting at home alone, eating sweet potatoes out of a can.  I helped her put several more cans in her bag.  What if that were her last meal?  How can we worry about someone taking too much when it might be the only thing keeping her hope alive?  One more can might be one more day to her.

To see the appreciation and joy on their faces as they left, not heads hung in shame, apologetic as if they had stolen something, but hopeful.  Hopeful that this was the beginning of a turn around.  They commented on the beauty of the building, and they were only in the hallway!  I took them in the sanctuary and they were in awe.  For a few minutes they tried to put together a few words to describe it.  Finally, one said, "I do believe this is the nicest one I've ever seen."

We spoke of the rain often, as they managed to pull up their car and load up their bags.  As they were getting into the car, one lady shouted, "Look it's BREAKING!"  And sure enough, the rain had stopped.  We all shared a moment of appreciation for what God had done. 

"I am putting my rainbow in the cloud - it will be there as a sign."  Genesis 9:13 

Lord, give me strength to push through the storms, to know your Spirit in me is strong and is not dampered by rain.

Sure as a Spring Rain

"We're ready to study God, eager for God-knowledge. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival. He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground." --Hosea 6:3

It was one of those mornings where you KNEW it was raining without even looking outside. You could hear it. You could hear that it wouldn't stop. It was not one of those mild tempermental bursts, it was a steady, thick shower. Sure enough, an hour later when I was ready to leave for work...it was still coming down. This is one of those rains that make the farmers breath a sigh of relief.

Did you ever get so stuck in the dryness of your life that you wish someone or something would just come and drench you, just wash away the old life and let you start fresh? Jerimiah 7:5 talks about the conditions of God moving in and taking over our temple...

"Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors..."

As I close my eyes, I know He is my endless spring...I know His rains of life never cease. But I can't get washed clean if I stay in the house. All He asks is that I step out of my comfort zone and let Him do the rest. But it's hard to put our business out in the street. To open ourselves up and show our clutter, our inhospitality. Oh, Lord, have mercy on us who fear to leave the dry place, whose pride keeps us stuck.

"Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst - not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." --John 4:14

We can be sure of this. His love will never fail, never dry up. It is so easy to love Him, but the hard work is giving up loving ourselves more than Him....

What terrible things selfish love does to us...and to others. If we could all only submit our flesh to the one who created it for daily updates!

"This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?" --James 3:10-11

Why do we think that we can wallow in our own muck and come out smelling like roses? So great the miracles, the things He has redeemed in us and saved us from. But He needs to keep doing it. We need to submit ourselves daily to Him, to His word. No matter how mature we are as Christians, we are not immune to sin. There are times it seems to be at every side. But God is as sure as that Spring rain to come and wash all of the sin away. If we humble ourselves and get out in the rain, He will give us the strength to start raining down on the struggles in our lives. Don't you want to be the kind of person that the devil says 'Here comes a storm I can't handle'?

"The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes." --Revelation 7:17

Fill me, Lord. Use me. Let me dedicate my life, find my purpose in you. My mother always taught me as a small child that on a rainy day we will surely meet people who need cheering up. She told me to wear a splash of red to lift someone's spirit. Red on a gloomy day can cheer up somebody and they can cheer up the next person and so on and so on...It is so engrained in me that I automatically reach for red on a rainy day. Not too much, but just enough to remind us to keep smiling...

Red represents our warfare, our covering, our celebration and love of God. Today I walk in the shoes of peace...looking for someone to cheer up with my red shoes, someone to celebrate with, to commiserate with...to humble myself for, to elevate myself with.

Peace to you from the center of the puddle... :-)

Welcome!

This is the day the Lord has made. Let's rejoice and be glad today!

Psalm 118:24

I've wanted to start a blog for so long, but today is the day! I'm looking forward to keeping this blog on daily events in the church office for everyone to share! Tomorrow is another day!