Daily Devotional: Joy in the rain
"But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." — Matthew 5:44-45 NRSVUE
In that dry and arid land, always on the edge of drought, rain was a gift from God. This passage reminds us that the blessing of rain fell on the good and the bad together.
When I was young, I didn’t consider rain falling to be a blessing. Why? Baseball. I loved baseball. In my neighborhood growing up, we had baseball games that would last all day long. We wandered in and out of the game as we were summoned home for lunch, chores, or perhaps a trip to the store. When we returned, we simply re-joined the game until near dark when the voice of our parents called us home.
But rain stopped baseball. Once it rained, even if the sun came out, the game was over. Just behind second base ran an alley through our makeshift outfield. Rain changed it to a red clay, nasty-when-wet, alley. Game over.
As I grew older, my whole attitude toward rain changed. I learned to love the smells after the rain, and the coolness that lingered on a hot, summer day. But I also understood that I should never complain about the rain with my mouth full of food.
“Into each life a little rain must fall,” is a phrase sometimes used in our culture to explain an unpleasant occurrence. But the Bible tells us to see differently. James 1:2-4 states, “…whenever you face various trials, consider it all joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.”
I am not as close to appreciating life’s trials as I do the rainfall, but with maturity I have come to know this scripture to be true. I’m still working on, “Considering it all joy,” however, how about you?
Prayer: Boss? Still trying to appreciate some of the hard hits. But I know You’re with me, so we’ll walk these bases together. Thanks.
Rev. Dr. Michael Sanders has books of Devotions available at Ken’s Village Market in Indian River.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Daily Devotional: Joy in the rain
