When the rain sweeps in, nothing really matters and isn’t this how it should be when God shows up?
I peer excitedly out the window, because we have been needing this so badly; farmers everywhere in Iowa just praying for a little rain because God is the One, they know, Who holds each drop of Living water.
“The corn is starting to curl,” the neighbor told me yesterday, shaking his head in worry as I stared at the dusty crops out the window of my office and prayed.
So now, as I press my face against the glass at the world being made new, I think about the wrinkled face of the neighbor and how he must be grinnin’ wide like only God can make a person grin.
This giddiness burns within me and the rain beckons, begging playfully for me to run wild into its embrace and be made new also.
A voice rolls smooth, then louder, from the skies.
“I am the way, the truth, and the Light.”
As if on queue, lightening dances in the cornfield across from where I sit, flashing like God is taking a picture of His beloved so I clutch my dog a little closer and smile big.
I flip on the lamps, soft orbs of light on the carpet and it’s warm here, in my heart, so I relax and pick up the newspaper, all cozied up in my La-Z-Boy in this little house with the candles flickering.
God is near.
Nothing else matters.
But the news says otherwise: Obama supports gay marriages. Another politician says he doesn’t. A picture of a sign by the road says abortion stops a beating heart. A teenage girl says she stopped a heart because she was raped. A lady found in a puddle of blood over love gone bad. Four killed because they stood for their religious beliefs.
I lay the the newspaper on my lap and stare out the window, watching the puddles form in the road and think about when God finally shows up, none of this will matter.
So I put away the dirty of the world and just focus on washing away my own because we are all so desperately in need of a God who can cleanse and make new and remind us… nothing else matters.
Yea yea yea, nothing else matters……beautiful slice of peace here, I am picturing, dreaming of the rain. I know it’s coming, our Arizona thunder and lightning storms start this month. Shades will be pulled up all over the house to watch the show……And when that trumpet blast comes, nothing else will matter 🙂
Have you gotten the rain yet?
Got a good storm a couple weeks ago, nothing but dust since then, but I have faith. The official start of monsoon season starts when dew pt is 55 or higher for 3 days, so far it has been around 54 off and on, but its coming! Loved your pics btw….
Will be praying! You are talking a strange language. We never worry that much about the rain. 🙂
Oh, this is beautiful! And, it is so true – all that we endure right now is temporal. God is near, and He is all that matters in the end.
Blessings to you!
Thank you for commenting Martha!
I really enjoyed this post Duane. There is a beauty in meditating on Christ and his Lordship over creation. With that said, I do think “it” matters. God has appointed his church to be his hands and feet in this wicked, sinful world. What happens between his Resurrection and his second coming does matter. It matters to the rape victim, the aborted child, the child who is dying of hunger because it hasn’t rained in their town for 7 weeks.
As the body of Christ, we are to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3-4).
Sometimes we look at the world’s condition with a self-righteous dismay. We look at what’s happening and we shrug our shoulder and say “The world is going down the drain”. But whose fault is it? The question we should be asking is “Where is the salt and the light?” It’s easy to look at the world and its condition and shake it off, shrug our shoulders, or wring our hands. If darkness abound, it is somewhat our fault and we must accept the blame, not sit and wait on the Lord Jesus to do away with all things.
If I’m reading my Bible correctly, I think when Jesus comes all of this will matter.
I’m not throwing away what you wrote, I’m just challenging you to not look at the condition of our world and shrug it off like it “doesn’t matter”, because it really does.
I appreciate your response, Moe and I completely see your point. In fact, the original writing of this post ended with the thought that we need to first clean the dirty out of our own heart before we can clean the dirty out of the world.
It really does matter! All that stuff I mentioned. But I stand firm on the fact that when the final trumpet blows, nothing will matter except Jesus.
Complete redemption. Thanks for being willing to call me out, bro.
I wasn’t really calling you out… just challenging your perspective. And I thought I was respectful. :/
You WERE respectful. 🙂 it’s all good
Beautiful as always..
Thank you Donna. 🙂
I read this early this morning before I rolled out of bed. I’ve been thinking about it all day.God shows up all the time. We just need to press our face against the glass to see.
And when the grand girl is afraid of the lightning, I’ll tell her God is taking a picture of his beloved–her.
Thanks for reading Sandra. 🙂 You know, it’s unhealthy to pick up your phone before rolling out of bed. I can’t remember why…. 🙁
rejoicing with you for the rain for Iowa farmers, and how God cleanses each of us…thanks, Duane 🙂
Thanks Dolly!