A New View of Rain

This time last year in middle Tennessee, we were in the grip of a severe drought.

No rain. Multiple days of 100-degree plus weather. Brown grass. Brown trees. The creek behind my house dried up.

Depressing did not begin to capture what the heat and drought did to my mental outlook on life.
I know hot. I grew up in Mississippi, where heat and humidity can set your hair on fire, but where just about every afternoon you were hit with a thunderstorm to cool you off.

This was completely different. It felt like God had decided to vacation and had forgotten to leave the water running for us. I tried to keep my yard alive. I tried to keep some water around for the birds and wildlife in my yard. It didn't work, and all I got for my trouble was an enormous water bill. There is no substitute for rain.

Rain is mentioned more than 100 times in the Bible, and its absence is mentioned in lockstep with famine and with judgment. One of my favorite Old Testament passages, concerns Elijah and his request of God to keep the rain away for three years because of the sin of King Ahab. Eventually, God takes a very small cloud and turns it into a rainstorm that breaks the drought.

The prophet Jeremiah also attributes a drought that is cracking the ground to the people of Israel's wickedness and their failure to listen to God.

But then, there is also this great verse from the fairly obscure Book of Hosea:

"Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.'' Hosea 6:3

I am not sure what happened last summer in Middle Tennessee and in the Southeast U.S. It could have been climate change. It could have been a freak occurrence. It could have been anything. It certainly could have been God's judgment.

But here is one thing I do know. I remember clearly the day we first saw rain after months of drought. I saw the big drops hitting my windshield and a huge smile grew across my face. When I got out of my truck at home, I didn't rush to get inside. I watched it rain. I let it run down my face. I let it soak my shirt and pants. I watched the water flow into the dry creek bed. It was a great experience.

I have never looked at rain the same way since. Every time it rains, I smile. Every time it rains, I thank God for renewing the grass, trees and animals. Every time it rains, I am grateful.

For me, rain is one of the best descriptions of who God truly is. He refreshes. He cools. He washes away the dirt and sweat. Through his plan of salvation through Jesus, he washes away sin. He turns drought and famine into plenty. Hosea knew what he was talking about when he wrote that God will come to us like the rain, when we most need his refreshment.

Yesterday, it was 97 degrees at my house. Today, the forecast is for rain and cooler temperatures.

When that first raindrop falls, I will be smiling. And I will be thinking about how good God is to His children.

An Encouraging Word

I had the opportunity to preach at my church (Hermitage Hills Baptist Church) a little while back and really enjoyed talking about the idea of encouragement.

There are way too many people sowing seeds of discouragement instead of hope. When I wrote about sports for a living, I remember former Alabama football coach Bill Curry labeling the pessimistic souls who always thought the worst of any situation, the "Fellowship of the Miserable."

It seems like we have a full house in that club these days, including the media and most of our politicans.

How about stirring the pot with a little HOPE!

The poster boy for encouragement in the Bible, was a man named Joseph, who went by the nickname of Barnabas or Son of Encouragement.

The Bible does not record much of his actual words, but in the Book of Acts you catch a great sense of who he really was. He sells a piece of land and donates all of the proceeds to the church. He takes a risk by adopting and mentoring early Christianity's Public Enemy No. 1 --Paul -- after his Damascus Road experience. He convinces the rest of the apostles that Paul can be trusted and Paul is on his way to becoming the world's greatest evangelist.

Later in Acts, we see Barnabas again giving a problem person a second chance. This time it's John Mark, who left Paul and Barnabas hanging on a mission trip. Ironically, Paul washes his hands of John Mark, but it's Barnabas again who extends hope and another opportunity to a young believer.

If I died today, I would want inscribed on my headstone, Son of Encouragement. Barnabas had the right idea, and I think he was a driver behind the explosive growth of the New Testament church.

Encourage someone today. Become your local distributor of hope.