By: Carole L. Haines (pen-name: Elora C. Seniah)
Lightning followed the Thunderclap, closely, as if to let me know how near it was. I awakened from my sleep with a jolt, at first, but then a sense of thrill rushed through me as I realized the rain was coming. That sweet fragranced, refreshing rain, to wash the heat away and send the flowers soaring once again toward the sky. No longer, barely hanging on, barely eking out an existence, but beginning to thrive once more.
‘Is it over, Dear Lord? Can this dry, hot spell really be done?”
Three rains in one week, I can hardly contain my joy. I walk out into the grass to tend my heavy garden, soaked through to every crevice. Each petal clinging greedily to these long-awaited drinks from Heaven. I carefully lift the stems and slowly weave them together, as I do every year, supporting them with a strong, tall, deeply sunk post or cage, Tying them with twine to give them extra support, to give them something to lean on.
As I weave and support these precious flowers, laden with their harvest of blooms, I begin to ponder that this is how the Body of Christ should work together; woven, strengthened by one another. The rain falls in all our lives, but storms are not always a dreadful thing. They are often refreshing, welcome relief from life’s dry spells. Where things once lay wilted from the arid Winds of July, now hope springs forth and reaches once more toward life. The harvest we thought was ruined begins to thrive and flourish, as stunted stalks of corn reach high toward the sky. That long-awaited Harvest is finally coming in.
“Enlarge the place of your tent
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not.
Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs.
“For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame.
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
(Isaiah 54:2-4a NASB)
We need to support each other in the Body of Christ, woven together in the tough times and the good. Sometimes the load of fruit we carry from the Blessings of the Lord need to be carried together, not alone. Burdens shared and Blessings given away to those whose times of little are upon them. We need each other, in the Body of Christ, for support in the times of scarcity as well as the times of abundance.
So here it comes again, The Rain. Bringing with it healing powers to wash away the dirt clinging to us from the desert of loss we have trudged through in the last several years. I walk outside to await its arrival with joyful expectation and hope. And the rain falls, and I drink it in. My tears mingled with the Heavenly drops. My heart spilling over with gratitude and peace. Here come those Healing Rains, bringing our long-awaited Harvest.
Thank you, Jesus, for the times of scarcity and want, where we are barely scratching out an existence. If it weren’t for these dry times, how would we appreciate the abundance brought to us by Your gift of rain. Amen
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