I'm No Stranger to the Rain

If you listen to a little country music, you may recognize my blog title as the title of a popular tune. I thought of it because of the tremendous amounts of rain we have been having. It's beautiful really! But in life it is not so fun...although it causes us to grow.

Should you want to do some research about troubles in life, start with your Bible. When you open it and begin to read, you will discover that every character in it, especially those greatly used by God, were no strangers to the rain either. The more I live the more I know we are all in need of much grace as the umbrella to cover us during life's storms. Eve, ate the fruit...Abraham, lied...Moses, got so mad he broke the commandments of God, not to mention his sheer disobedience of striking a rock he was told to speak to....Samson, fell prey to a stalking woman losing sight of his strength....David, committed adultery with Bathsheba...Elijah got so depressed he begged to die.....Thomas doubted to the point he let his mind out think the reality of those who had seen the risen Lord....Peter, cursed, fought, mouthed off, quit, pouted, questioned, got naked (I'm not making it up...read your Bible!)....on and on the story of men and women and their tragic lives of love, loss, pain, depression. The amazing thing is, virtually every one of these Bible heros faced their own failures...failures which resulted from the rains of life that turned into a flood.

I have zero tolerance for hypocritical dupes who point their proud, egotistical noses upward and act like they have never seen a day of drizzle in their lives. Failure is part and parcel to the human frame! If we were perfect, we wouldn't need a Savior! But we desperately need a Savior, one who will come out in the downpour (a place very uncomfortable for those with their noses in the air) and drag us, yes, even carry us to a place of safety. We all have sin. I place myself at the head of the list. But I refuse to believe I am the only one on the list. Rain doesn't just come down in my back yard. It rains on the just and the unjust. The good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly get rained on. We look in the mirror to discover poop on our faces! Hopefully you make it to the mirror before some smug 'ultra religious biggot' comes along and gladly points it out for you.

You know, the church has to be a place to invite people in out of the rain. We don't ignore the rain, nor the fact that most folks are soaked with it. We just want to help dry them off, prevent sickness and cold which hurts all the way to the bone. Yes, it rains...it rains on us all! I certainly am no stranger to it. Are you?