I love the rain!

It rained last week. For the first time in over two years, we had a full two inches of rain in the same week. The beauty of rain after a long absence is hard to describe. 

When it first starts raining, you kind of hold your breath - will it keep going this time, or just tease us a bit before coming to an abrupt halt? Then, after a few minutes, you begin to pray a hopeful prayer of thanksgiving, along with a request for just a bit more. After a while, you become used to the rain and you forget to pray that prayer of thanksgiving. Then, you come to your sense and offer more thanks.

I love the mornings after a night of rain. I love going outside and breathing in the freshness that only rain can bring. I love seeing the puddles on the walks, the water flowing in the gutters, the pools of water on the lawns.

I don't know why God withholds the rain, at times, but I do know that I seem to appreciate it so much more after it has been gone for a while. It has a way of making me realize that we are not in control of even the simplest aspects of our lives, for we cannot live for long without those life-giving showers from above.

It's that way in your spiritual life, when you think about it. How often do we attempt to go days on end without the showers of blessings that can only come from our Maker? How often do we live in self-imposed droughts due to a lack of seeking God - both through His word and through prayer? 

If you have been trying to live without those spiritual showers, isn't it time you allowed God to open up His floodgates of blessing again? If you will, I believe that you will love waking up in a world filled with those showers of blessings. I believe that you will love the freshness and sense of renewal in your life that only God can bring. Or... you could just continue to live in the arid places that you have created by the droughts of your own creation.

As for me, I love the rain!

Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men.

Zechariah 10:1, NIV