rain?

why is this blog titled please send rain? well . . . i'm glad you asked. it's a bit of a long story. you may want to grab cup of tea.

a few months ago i was reading my Bible and came across a curious statement. John records esus as telling his followers "If you forgive anyone his sins they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:23) this seemed so huge to me. i did some study on my own and asked other people what this could mean. my friend reminded me that what we do here and now matters. i mean - if i claim to follow Jesus Christ than i have the Holy Spirit in me. and that's a big deal.

so what does that have to do with rain?

well, i kept thinking about this whole issue of forgiveness. what does it mean to forgive and to be forgiven? and round about the same time i read one of my favorite stories. it's in 1 Kings 18, if you would like to read the whole thing. only this time i read it - i really read it. see there had been no rain for three years. and God asked Elijah to do a very brave thing. He asked Elijah to create an altar and sacrafice to Him, but he wanted Elijah to pour water all over the altar and then God would send fire down and consume the sacrafice. Elijah was to do this as well as the people who were worshiping another god - this god's name was Baal. see it's crazy. there wasn't enough water - it was three years since the last raindrop. well, Baal never showed up and God sent fire and consumed the altar and the sacrafice. see - good story, huh? God tells guy what to do, guy obeys, and God shows up. but this is the part that i never saw before. Elijah prays to God to turn the Jewish people's hearts back to God. see i think it would have been enough for God to display his power over the false god. but this next part is amazing. God answers Elijah's prayer, He forgives the people He loves so much, and the people cried out - "The LORD - he is God! The LORD - he is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) and then . . . the story goes on to say that Elijah turned to this guy named Ahab and said - "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of heavy rain."

i started thinking about how God forgives. and i keep seeing that when he forgives - it's not like he thinks about it for a couple days or just says the words. He shows us in spectacular ways that we are indeed forgiven. throughout the stories of Jesus, we keep seeing that he would heal people or show up at their houses and eat with them. and then he would look at them and tell them they were forgiven.

can you imagine how that could change the world? if instead of just kinda forgiving you for hurting me, i showed up at your house to shovel your driveway. or as followers of Christ we danced in the rain a bit more. we offered this living water to the world - cause the life offered in this living water is forever.

i mean, i am forgiven afterall. it's going to be okay. it's raining.