Stop Running for Cover When It Rains

How often have you prayed for rain, only to run for cover when it comes? Sounds familiar right? You wait and wait through a long, dry spell, praying for rain to fall, and yet when it does come down in glistening drops from the sky, you run for cover? You don’t stand out in the open and enjoy the coolness and refreshing it brings?

Okay, so maybe I’m one of the minority here. Whenever it rains, I have to run out in it, if only briefly, just to experience it. And it doesn’t matter where I am. If I’ve just walked out of church and down it comes, well then, out I go. If I’ve just bought my groceries in Woolies and I find it raining outside, well then it takes me longer to get to my car. I just have to linger in it. I have to taste it. To feel it on my skin.

Now, maybe it comes from living here in Katherine, where our hot, dry climate necessitates the need to breathe it all in and get excited when the heavens open up and the clouds burst forth, filling the rivers and creeks and intoxicating the air with the smell of dry earth having been dampened by a cloudburst. (If you’ve never smelt it, then you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about, sorry)

So why am I rattling on somewhat poetically about rain? Stay with me. There is a point to all this.

Let’s get down to the spiritual application.

How often do we pray for rain, or blessing, upon our lives, our churches, our ministries etc, only to run for cover when it does rain?

The blessings start to roll in, and we run for cover. Back to our comfort zones. Back to what we’re used to. Back to our routines, or ruts.

Firstly, I think that we often pray in unbelief. Not fully trusting that God will do what we ask. We don’t really expect Him to come through. But He does. And gloriously. Souls are added to the church. People come to faith in Christ and we are left just a little overwhelmed and fearful.

All of the sudden, we grasp the fact that because of the blessing He has shown us, we now have new opportunities for ministry opened up to us. New converts need discipling. New ministries need to be started. Teaching the young Christians how to grow in their spiritual walk becomes of upmost importance. Visits need to be made. And we need to step up to the plate.

And we run for cover!

Yes, reality hits. Our leisure time is now going to be limited. Our ‘me’ time is going to decrease. We are going to need to give more, love more, share more.

We’d like it to rain on our own terms. When we’re ready for it. And we want just the right amount.

Back to my ‘real’ rain analogy. During our recent wet season, there were many times we were caught out by a heavy shower. We had freight in the yard, on the ute, out in the open and down it came! We were unprepared and had to do all we could to get everything under cover to prevent damage.

Yes, we knew, being wet season, that it would rain, and often unexpectedly, but we still found ourselves unprepared at times and frustrated. And then the wind would start to blow and everything you had put under cover would now be threatened with gale force winds and rain sending you sprinting for a tarp or something to cover it up with. The roof leaked and so we were decidedly picky as to where exactly to place certain items so as to not have them dripped on throughout the night.

You know what we wanted? We wanted the rain on our own terms. We wanted just the right amount, at precisely the right time. We wanted everything put in its place BEFORE the rain, and it would be nice if it waited until we could sit on the verandah and watch it and breathe in its coolness while we rested on an easy chair after our days labours.

Yes. Rain on our terms. Blessing on our terms. When we’re ready, God. When we have all our little programs and ministries in place and everything lined up neatly in a row.

But God doesn’t work to our schedule. He has His own calendar. He has His own timepiece. His own clock. And the timing of His blessings, His rain, is totally up to Him.

I love these verses in Isaiah that remind us that He works differently to us.

Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God chooses when to shower His blessings down upon our lives and we need to be ready and waiting to accept them with open arms. It seems strange that we would actually see a blessing as something to be feared, but that’s exactly what we do so often when God brings things into our lives that require us to step up and serve, trusting and believing in faith that He will give us the strength to face whatever challenges He’s planning on sending. We ask Him to send the rain, and then we run for cover, not ready to face what He has for us.

This is the part where I say, “Be careful what you pray for…”

Yes, if you’re going to pray for blessing in any area of your life, be prepared to be thrown out of your comfort zone and into a raging torrent. But be comforted that God will be with you and He will give you the exact skills you need to meet the challenge without fear.

Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV - Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Isaiah 41:10 KJV - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

When I went through a very difficult time in my life, I asked that God would use my time of trial to help others with the comfort I was comforted with and that He would give me opportunities to bless others and encourage others with the things I had learned. And boy did He ever? I prayed for rain, and He sent it.

Was I prepared for it? No, not really. But did I run for cover? Okay, maybe just a little. But God opened up opportunities for me I had never dreamed or even imagined myself facing. He brought people into my life I never would have gone searching for. He wanted to see if I was serious about using the lessons I had learned, for His glory.

I’m so glad that God works according to His calendar and not mine. He knows our human frailties and failings and He knows that if left up to us, we might never step out of our comfort zone, we might never start that ministry, reach that person, speak up for Him. But He, in all His wisdom, sends blessings into our lives that require action on our part. And then, He gives the strength we need to meet the challenge.

Pray for rain. Run out into it. Lift your hands and your faces up to the heavens and soak it in. Ask God to show you what He wants you to do. Where you can serve Him and how. Don’t let your blessings become burdens. Let them give you wings to fly and let God be the wind that lifts you up.

Isaiah 40:31 KJV - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Okay Not to be Okay

Do you ever go through periods in your life where you’re not okay? You know, deep down inside, you’re not okay. You put on a brave face on the outside, but things are not okay.

Reminds me of a meme I read once. “I walk around like everything is fine, but deep down, inside my shoe, my sock is falling off”.

Ever felt like that? Often times, you hide it so well, no one knows what’s going on. No one realises you’re not okay. You’re too afraid to let it show.

There was a time in my life when this was the case. Things were not okay. I was dealing with anxiety, panic attacks, depression. I felt as if I was falling apart on the inside. I tried to make it through my days, going through the motions, trying my best to hide what was going on inside, dealing with it as best I could, by using distractions and sleep and whatever I felt worked.

But the darker it got in my ever-increasing and suffocating world, the deeper I went into the abyss of depression and anxiety. And then the doubts came creeping in. Doubts about my standing with the Lord. My salvation. Because, in my mind, how could anyone dealing with depression actually be a Christian? Weren’t Christians supposed to not deal with anxiety and panic attacks? Wasn’t their faith in God sufficient to keep them from dealing with these sorts of things?

Prior to my time of deep despair, I didn’t have a compassionate heart towards those Christians that dealt with depression. I thought that perhaps they weren’t Christians after all.

But when I went through this time, and as I cried out to God for mercy, as I began to study His Word and search for answers, I began to realise that God’s people can go through times of darkness and still be saved.

I began to read of the many examples in the Bible of Godly men who went through periods of dark and deep despair. Of course, the main one that stood out to me was King David. Just read through the book of Psalms and you’ll see what I mean.

David was known as a man after God’s own heart, and yet, he faced depression. He faced dark thoughts, times of hardship, times of fear and anxiety. But something I love about his life, is that he didn’t stay there. He didn’t stay in his deep, dark pit.

Have a look at Psalm 13 with me.

Psalm 13:1-6 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Do you notice the progression in these verses?

In the first 2 verses, David is on his face in pity. Woe is me. He’s sorrowful. He’s having his own pity party. He feels like God has left him.

But in verse 3, he begins to pray. He asks God to consider and hear him. He is now on his knees in prayer.

And in the last 2 verses, he’s on his feet in praise! He’s rejoicing!

Face. Knees. Feet.

An upward progression.

The only way you’re going to get out of the deep, dark hole of depression and anxiety, is up! There’s no other way. You have to climb up. You have to look up.

And the one we look to, is Jesus.

I thought that because I was faithfully serving the Lord in ministry, taking time to spend time with the Lord, raising my family according to the Word of God the best I could, having a good relationship with my husband, that I would never face anything so devastating as the period of darkness I went through.

I never dreamed that I would find myself lying on the cold, hard ground in a darkened storeroom, crying out loudly to God to help me, begging Him for mercy, asking for Him to illuminate my darkness.

But what a work God wanted to do in me. We don’t always understand why God allows us to go through things, and we can’t control our circumstances, but we can always control HOW we respond to them!

God was doing a purifying work in my heart. He saw something in me that needed refining. I had to be taken down into the pits of despair in order to rise up in praise, thanking Him for His amazing goodness to me.

I will admit, I didn’t always respond correctly to the trial, I mostly reacted. But as time went on, and I was able to dig out precious promises in the Word to hold on to, my heart began to change. God began to soften my heart and give me compassion for others like I’d never had before.

He helped me to look at others with different eyes. And so, I began to pray that no matter what I went through, God would use it to help others, when I came through the other side. I asked God that He would use my time of trial to help others. I didn’t want to learn the precious promises found in God’s Word and keep them to myself. No.  I wanted to be able to share them. I wanted to have compassion for others.

And God did a miracle in my heart. I began to have a burden for Ladies Ministry. Something I’d never really been interested in before. I began to desire to minister to other ladies and share what God was teaching me. I longed to have more time to study God’s Word. I craved more quiet time with Him.  I looked forward to time in His Word every day.

My time of not being okay, actually turned into a blessing.

Did God have to put me through my trial in order for me to look to Him more? Was I trying to do everything in my own strength and God wanted to bring me to a place that would bring me to my knees, at His feet, totally reliant on Him?

I have my own thoughts as to what God was trying to teach me, and the reasons why He chose for me to go down deeper and stay down longer than ever before. But even if we don’t know why a trial comes, the most important thing is the lesson we learn from it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s okay, not to be okay. There will come times in your life, where everything is not okay and you struggle on a day to day basis. God never promised that the Christian walk would be easy.

John 16:33 - These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

We are told that difficulties will come, and for some, such as myself, times of depression and anxiety will come, no matter how much we strive to be followers of Jesus. No matter how often we spend time in His Word.

But it’s okay. We don’t have to be afraid to let others know that we’re not okay. We all deal with things. Everyone goes through difficult times. But if we never share some of what we’re dealing with, how will those close to us know what to pray about? How will they know how to help? You don’t have to tell all the details of your particular trial, but I think it’s important to let someone know you’re not okay so that they can know better how to pray and how to help.

When I was going through my difficult time, I had 2 ladies who daily encouraged me with scripture and words of help and checked in on me, and loved me enough to ask how I was, and offer to pray with me. They had compassion. They showed a compassion for me that I had never shown to others. They cared. And while I give God all the glory for my deliverance, I thank God for those ladies who set aside time to help a friend in need.

So, if you find yourself, right now, struggling to keep your head above water, if you know you’re not okay, then stop, and lay it all out before the Lord. He already knows our hearts, and He knows all about it, but He longs for us to come to Him, humbly, submitting to His perfect will and asking Him for help.

We do not have to be perfect to come to God. We can’t be. It’s impossible. We come to Him in our brokenness, and He heals us. We come to Him in our weakness, and He gives us strength.

We can be not okay and still come to God. We can come in our sad and sorry state and He holds out His arms of mercy and love. We can admit to Him and to others that we are not okay and He can bring comfort to our weary souls.

It hasn’t been easy, sharing my frailties and insecurities like this, but I think it’s so important to be truthful and let others know that although someone may look like they have it all together on the outside, no one is perfect and there will be times when you’re not okay, and that’s okay.

Just bring your burdens to the Lord and leave them there. Let Him lead you out of the darkness. Let His light guide your path. Let His Words fill your mind. Let His peace flood your soul.

Philippians 4:7  - And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting With God in the Morning

“It is a good rule never to look into the face of man in the morning till you have looked into the face of God.” Charles Spurgeon

Looking into the face of God first thing in the morning. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

So, what does your morning look like? Have you become a spiritual fast-food junkie? Have you allowed deadlines, projects, children, housework and life’s demands to take priority over your relationship with the Lord? Are you getting your daily devotions to-go?

It’s usually not too difficult to find time to get in some sort of spiritual meal throughout the day, but all too often that meal consists of quickly reading a short passage of scripture, a couple of sentence-long devotionals and maybe a hurried prayer and then out the door we rush, off to accomplish the goals of the day.

Meeting with God requires nurturing your relationship with him. And that means spending time with him. Quality time. More than a fast-food meal.

I understand that at different seasons in our lives, we may not find it easy to spend hours or even minutes alone with God each day. But if cultivating a relationship with him is our desire, we will be determined to set aside some time each day to listen to him and let him speak to us. We will make time for more than a to-go type devotional meal.

The purpose of setting aside time to spend with the Lord is to get to know him better, develop our relationship, and grow spiritually, so that he may better use us for his purposes. And if we really want to get to know him, we will be willing to pay the price. Which often means getting out of bed just that little bit earlier. Not always fun.  I know, right!

Cultivating a relationship takes time. It takes resolve. It takes energy. It takes determination. And most of all, it takes love. If we really love someone, we long to spend time with that person. We want quality time. We rearrange things in our lives to be able to do this. How much more important is it to make time for God? Neglect doesn’t grow a relationship. It starves it.

Now back to that early morning quip. Yes, you knew I’d bring that up again, didn’t you? Firstly, I want you to know, that just because I’m writing about this, doesn’t mean I have it all figured out and have my mornings in order each and every day. No. I’m writing about this because I struggle in this area too. And I need reminding of the importance of becoming more consistent and more concerned with my spiritual mealtimes. And I think it’s something we all need to be reminded of.

It seems that whenever the topic of devotions or quiet time or whatever you like to call it comes up, the phrase ‘in the morning’ is paired with it. Why is that? Is it just coincidental? It’s easy to skip over this morning business as busy women, mothers, wives and grand multi-taskers! But the more I study God’s Word, the more convinced I am of its importance. It’s hard to gloss over it and deny its importance when the verses are staring you right in the face. Let’s take a look at a few.

Firstly, I want to bring your attention to a very notable and important verse.

Mark 1:35 KJV - And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Did you see that? “Rising up a great while before day” Who is this verse talking about? Yes. The Lord Jesus. Wow, right? The Lord Jesus made time alone with his Father part of his schedule. He took time, early in the morning, to meet with God. How much more important is it for us to do it? If the Lord Jesus saw it as important then so should we! What an example!

Luke 5:16 KJV - And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

The case for early rising doesn’t end there, just in case you think that’s it. Wait! There’s more!

Psalm 5:3 KJV - My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalm 88:13 KJV - But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

Psalm 57:8 KJV - Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

Psalm 143:8 KJV - Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Psalm 119:147 KJV - I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.

Jacob rose early to make a vow to God at Bethel.

God told Moses to come up to Mount Sinai early in the morning.

David rose early to worship, pray and meditate.

The women went to the tomb, early in the morning.

Abraham rose early in the morning to worship the Lord.

You get the picture.

You may be thinking, so how early is early? I think early means different things to different people. But whatever it means to you, I think the point is that it needs to be a time where there is quiet. Before the craziness of the day begins. Before the texts and phone calls begin to interrupt the day. Before the tasks of everyday life are started. And as you know, that time is usually in the morning.

 

 “The best time to converse with God is before worldly occasions stand knocking at the door to be let in: The morning is, as it were, the cream of the day, let the cream be taken off, and let God have it. Wind up thy heart towards heaven at the beginning of the day, and it will go the better all the day after. He that loses his heart in the morning in the world will hardly find it again all the day. O! Christians, let God have your morning meditations.”ThomasWatson

Now, I’m not saying that you’re not spiritual if you don’t take time with God in the morning, but I just know from my own experience, that if I start my day off with the Lord, and take those first few minutes to spend time alone with him, I am better able to face the day, and whatever it throws my way. It may not go as planned and things may fall apart, but I am confident in knowing that I’ve committed my day to the Lord, and I have his Word in my heart and his song on my lips.

In saying this, now that my girls are older, I often find that I have some more concentrated quiet time in the afternoon, while no one is home and I can study in peace. But I don’t think that it should take the place of that special time in the morning that I really need to jump start my day. I see my afternoon times as a bonus. A free gift. An extra special little window of time with the Lord.

I love this little poem I came across recently.

I met God in the morning
When my day was at its best,
And His presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O’er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them
Brought to us a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With the Presence left behind.

So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!

Ralph Spaulding Cushman

 

And here’s another one I really love:

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day. I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task. "Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. He answered, You didn't ask," I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak. I wondered why God didn't show me. He said, "But you didn't seek. I tried to come into God's presence. I used all my keys at the lock. God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock." I woke up early this morning and paused before enter the day. I had so much to accomplish that i had to take time to pray. Alan Grant

With our days as full as they are, and our lives busier than ever, we can’t afford not to spend time with the Lord early. We can’t afford to rush into our days without the Lord being at the forefront of our minds and hearts.

Psalm 5:3 KJV - My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

We need to hear God’s voice in the morning. We need to direct our prayer unto him. We need his guidance and we need it early. We need it before the cares of the day overwhelm us. We need it before anything else. We need his words before we read any other. We need to look into his face before we look into the face of any other.

I want his face to shine upon me. I want his grace. I want his peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 KJV - The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

And so, I encourage you to seek him early. Discipline yourself to take that time in the morning to come before him. Give him what time you have and ask him to help you to make more time for him. He alone knows our hearts and he knows our desires. He longs for us to come to him. He calls us to cultivate our relationship with him.

Give him those first few moments of the day, and if you are able to make more time throughout the day to spend with him, then make good use of it. You will find that the more time you spend in his Word, the greater your desire will be to read more and study more and pray more. Seek him early. And seek him often.

Jillian Holmes 8.4.21