It has been quite a week with all the rain, hail, fog and winds! Diane’s budding garden took a thrashing! It’s hard to tell if it will recover very well. However, the next few days promise to be rain free and sunny. That will be awesome! Then on Sunday, When The Rains Come again, we will risk renewed challenges of keeping the plants protected and healthy.
That is exactly what we are going to be talking about not only this Sunday, but for a bunch of Sundays in the immediate future as we dig into Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, Greece. The first seven chapters of this letter will provide us with an understanding of the relationship between suffering and living in the power of the Spirit. You see, suffering (thrashing rain) is as much a part of life as the power of the Holy Spirit (sunny and warm). The amazing thing is that God uses them in combination and coordination with one another. Life is not totally disjointed – God can cause all thing to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. There are things that happen here and now that would be totally out of place in eternity. The brokenness of our world will not be part of heaven in any way shape or form. The free will of man produces all sorts of melodies this side of eternity. The strange thing is that even though God is not the author of these things, He can use them to get our attention, capture our hearts and unfold His purposes in our lives.
So, When The Rains Come, God will not waste the pain that we go through, but He will be present and purposeful. See you Sunday.