Healing Rain

This morning the sky is gray and rain is falling intermittantly outside of my office window.  Often, this kind of weather would promote dreariness and dissatisfaction, but not today.  The past week has been intolerably hot.  Yesterday, the thermometer reached 105 and everytime that you walked outside the heat would slap you in the face like an oven mitt.  So the clouds and the breeze and the rain are welcome visitors.  The high today is expected to be in the low 90's, a welcome break and an encouraging sign that summer will not last forever. 
The heat has not been the only exhausting element that we have been dealing with.  One of the most faithful families in our church is going through the fire right now.  Chuck and Helen Nelson have served God in our church for almost 40 years in any number of ways, seen and unseen.  Chuck gets to church at 7 am every Sunday and makes sure the heating or cooling is turned on and things are in order.  He reads his Bible, folds the bulletin, and often prays with me that God will move in a special way during our services.  In my six years as Pastor of IBC, we have had hundreds of early Sunday morning conversations about God's blessings, His provision, our direction, and Chuck's grandchildren.  Chuck has had his hand in every square inch of the facility here, using his skills as a mechanical engineer to build and maintain the facilities that we enjoy.  He can tell you how many toilets we have and how many BTU's of heating capacity and cooling equipment we have and how it is powered and when the last time the filters were replaced.  Maybe most importantly, he carries a pocket full of mints and candy and all of the kids flock to him for a taste on Sunday morning.  When I came here as Pastor, Chuck was leading our music.  My first Sunday, he told me, "Now preacher, I'm just the interim music director.  As soon as someone comes along that you think can do a better job, they can have it."  I said, "Chuck, how long have you been the interim music director?"  He said, "Thirty-one years." 
That was Brother Chuck.  He was willing to do whatever God asked him to do and he was faithful to it.
On Monday of this week, while recovering from heart surgery, Chuck's heart went out of rhythm and they had to shock him twice to get it beating again.  Since that time, he has not responded and the doctors have told Helen that if his condition doesn't change by the end of today, that they will have to make the hard decision of whether to continue life support or disconnect the respirator. 
Chuck and Helen have been married for 62 years.  This is a very difficult time, but the Bible promises that God will give us grace during such trials and Helen's attitude and demeanor display that added measure of grace. 
Just like the cool breeze that the storm has kicked up this morning, the Holy Spirit's ministry to those who are hurting is a refreshing thing.  The awareness of God's love and presence during this difficult time is like a healing rain washing over my parched and exhausted soul.  In the short-term, we still don't know the outcome of this difficult trial, but in the long-run we know that Chuck has already made peace with God and that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.  In fact, our prayers for miraculous healing might just be a little selfish, because they would delay the joys of heaven for a man who has faithfully served his Savior for most of his life.  But when all is said and done, we know that God's Will will be what is best.   The heat of this fiery trial will be swept aside by the refreshing rain of His Spirit's ministry in our hearts.