Rainy Days and Mondays

Isn't it amazing how we let outward appearances and circumstances affect our moods and feelings?  When I stepped out of my front door this morning, the rain was pouring down.  As I crossed Honey Creek, the sky was gray and it was almost as if a cloud had settled on the lake.  In my mind, the old song started playing, "Rainy days and Monday's always get me down..."  And for a moment, I believed it.  Thoughts flashed through my mind about how tired I feel, how much I miss loved ones who are far away, how much work I have to do, and the pile of clutter laying on my desk crying out to be dealt with.  A McDonald's breakfast and a cup of less than stellar coffee later, I sat in my office listening to the rain fall outside the window, wondering where to begin.  Then it hit me.  Why am I feeling this way?  Because it's raining?  We need the rain.  It is cool and refreshing and the A/C hasn't kicked on once since I've been sitting here.  Because I am tired? I got 8 hours of sleep last night and any residual fatigue is just the result of an awesome day of ministry yesterday.  I am more rested today than most days, let alone most Monday mornings.  Disappointments, struggles, conflicts, tests, trials????  These are all part of life and evidence that God is actively working in me to refine me for His purposes.  They are not a reason to be down or discouraged.  As a matter of fact, James encourages us to "count it all joy..."  Despite the common theme of Monday morning FaceBook statuses, Monday offers a new beginning, another opportunity to get it right, a chance to be the salt and the light wherever God has placed us.  So, I have decided that the best way to deal with rainy days and Mondays is to count my blessings.  I have so much to be thankful for, a loving family, great people to work with and minister to, a comfortable home in a town that I love, and most of all a God who loves me in spite of myself and blesses me even when I don't deserve it.  So I think I'm going to write a new Monday morning song...When it's raining Monday morning and the sky is dark and gray, I'll remember all God's blessings as I journey on my way. When I'm lonely I'll remember all the loved ones far and near, that He's given me to care for and my priceless friends so dear.  When I'm facing trials and struggles that put me to the test, I'll remember that He cares for me and knows just what is best. With the love that God has given me and the blessings that abound, rainy days and Mondays should never get me down.

Slow Soaking Rain

The old joke is, "It's been so dry in Grove lately that the Baptists have started sprinkling and the Methodists are giving rainchecks."  The ground is parched and every living thing is struggling for a drop of rain.  Last night, we got a welcome little shower.  Huge drops of rain fell for about five minutes, cooling off the landscape and teasing the ground with the promise of relief.  But for the most part, it passed without having a major impact on the condition of the ground.  What we really need is a slow soaking rain that lasts for about 24 hours and softens the ground and sinks in deep rather than just running off of the hardened surface.
The Bible likens our heart and soul to the ground under our feet.  It is there that the Spirit plants its seed and seeks to bring forth life and fruit.  Often, for any number of reasons, we begin to get parched and dry.  Somehow our hearts get hardened by the circumstances of life or the pain of relating with fallen people and we begin to wander away from the wellspring of living water that the Holy Spirit has promised to provide.  We hear the preaching, but it doesn't sink in.  We read our Bibles, but the truth of the Word just seems to run right off, never penetrating our hardened hearts. Before long, we are spiritually dying of thirst.
What we need more than anything else is a slow infusion of God's Word that sinks in deep and softens those areas of our heart that we have allowed to become dry and crusty.  You can see the impact of what I am talking about when we send our teens off to camp or our men go to a retreat or we have an extended revival meeting. People receive a steady diet of biblical truth for an extended period of time and it is able to soak through the hardness that continual exposure to the world and its negative influences causes.  The result is a new awareness of the still, small voice of God speaking to their heart and a new willingness to listen and follow.
If you have found that your heart has become dry and crusty, then I would have a few words of encouragement for you this morning.  First, take a new approach to God's Word.  Determine to read it every day, but begin with a prayer that God would show you something that He put there just for you and then don't stop reading until you find it.  Second, recommit yourself to living your life in community with other believers.  While being in relationship with others is often hard and sometimes painful, it is also one of the best ways for God to teach you to walk with Him.  And third, seek out new and effective ways to get a continual flow of God's Word into your life, whether it is through listening to Christian radio, praise and worship music on your iPod, or cassette tapes of Scripture reading or preaching, find a way to get a daily infusion of His Word.  Then sit back and watch what God can do in good soil that has been softened by the rain.
Yes, it's been dry, but showers of blessing are in the forecast.