Rainy Days…

As I write this, the sky has been dropping condensed little pellets of H2O for, oh…, about 12 hours now. I suppose that is good news for the minor drought situation the meteorologists promote on the 6 o’clock news, and perhaps will even bring a smile to the many folks that will soon be putting Spring gardens in the ground. However, when the original plan for the lone day off in the week was to participate in some fierce competition with some trash talking high school kids in the monthly fishing tournament and then skip on over to the piney woods and join a buddy for a wild pig stake out, the much-needed moisture that is pouring from above just amounts to rain on my parade! Rainy days – What can you say? They’re unavoidable.

Not too long ago (just a couple of short decades ago), I would have responded to the weather interruption with a tantrum that probably would have included spinning tires, slinging mud, a couple of broken somethings, and a whole lot of explaining to do to someone with authority over me! I’m so glad those days are behind me (wink, wink!). Not hat I’ve mastered the artful discipline of “rolling with the punches”, but I have learned some valuable insight and wisdom along the way that helps me understand that what I wanted to do isn’t necessarily the best thing for me to do or even the right thing for me to do. I wanted to catch a 10 pound bass today…I needed to fix some broken things around the house. I wanted to extinguish the squeal from a wild pig or two. I needed to get packed for a quick road trip coming up tomorrow. I wanted to spend some time in God’s great creation…I needed to spend some quiet time listening to the Lord speak to my heart through the pitter patter of rain on the roof. You get the picture…

So when things don’t work out like you thought they should (and sometimes they won’t), rather than respond like the temper-tantrum Robbie of yesteryear, attempt to practice what the Lord suggests in Psalm 46 – “Be still, and know that I am God.” While the experiences of the outdoors can certainly be a spiritually renewing break from the go, go, go pace of life we tend to lead most of the time, the truth is that sometimes we even need a break from that. In-between the thunder claps and rain drops, hear the voice of the Lord as He calls to us saying, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest…” (Matthew 11:28). The rain commands that bass snatching and pig exterminating will have to wait till another day, but I believe this day was arranged by the Almighty to be a battery-charging appointment for this weary soul. Perhaps you can identify. Maybe you need a battery-charging session yourself?

Not today, but hopefully someday soon…whenever the rain stops, I’ll see you in the great outdoors!