On the Falling of Rain

It rained here today--all day long. From early this morning until right now, it has been raining. Don't get me wrong, I like the rain. I actually love the rain. However, it can be quite an inconvenience for your daily routine.

On days like today, it is impossible to escape the rain. Wherever you go, there's the rain. When I try to walk to work, it's raining, and I have to drive. When I want to drive to the store, traffic is bad and it takes a long time because it's raining. When I decide what to wear for the day, I have to keep in mind that it's raining. Even my choice of music for my drive around town is based upon the rain (certain songs just fit the weather, you know?).

Thank God for the rain, though. We very much need it. Even though we can't get away from it, it is definitely what we need.

God is exactly the same way. We cannot escape from his presence, wherever we go (see Psalm 139). Sometimes, we may feel that this is an inconvenience. It knocks us off our daily routine. It forces us to do thinks differently. The fact that God is always there effects every part of our day, whether we like it or not.

Yet, while we may feel like always having God around can be bothersome (like when you want to do something you know you shouldn't...), God's constant presence, like a good soaking rain, is definitely what we need.

Imagine the world with no rain. Yes, it would be bright and sunny for awhile, but then we would thirst to death. Imagine the world without God's presence. Yes, we would be free to do whatever we wanted---for the 30 minutes before we turned the world upside down and ruined ourselves. The world needs the rain. We need God's constant presence. It's that simple.

It's still raining right now, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow. That's OK. It actually makes me happy, because we really need it.

God is here right now, and he'll be here tomorrow. And that's more than OK, because we need him more than we can ever imagine.