Dancing in the Rain
Storms make me shiver with fear. The sheer power of them makes me feel tiny and defenseless. Although I used to have a bad fear of thunderstorms (and I still don’t love them), I’m also talking about the storms of life. Over the past few weeks, God has been teaching me how to dance in the rain.
Yesterday, the Lord reminded me that our perspective of Him determines our perspective on our life. How we view God determines how we view our lives. 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 details this very subject:
“16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ 17 Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ 18 And, ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’ 7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (NIV).
The three promises of God in verses 16-18 outline some key elements of the correct view of God - a view that leads us towards holiness and complete dependence on the Lord (chapter 7:1). God wants to dwell with us (in us). He wants us to be devoted to Him, to be holy like Him, to be His (verse16). In order for us to be holy, we must accept God’s free gift of salvation and then allow God to, by that same grace, teach us what is sin and what is not and grow us spiritually. God wants us to be like Him (holy) so that we can be His children and I believe God allowed sin into the world to point us to the kind of lifestyle and morality that emulate His character. My pastor once put it this way: When we sin, we aren’t violating a random set of rules that God put together, we are violating God’s character. (verse 17). Ultimately, then, God is a Father who wants to see His perfect righteousness ‘passed down’ to His children - He could just get rid of us and keep His righteousness to Himself; but no - He loves us and wants us as His children - children of the Most High God (verse 18)!
This afternoon, I went out during a heavy rain to walk our two large dogs (don’t worry; there was no thunder or lightning). I carried my phone with me and had arrangements of hymns and contemporary Christian songs playing on it. Soon, ‘Give Thanks’ by Henry Smith (© 1978 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) began to play and I sang along. The rain started to come down a bit heavier and then I came to this part of the song; “And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong;’ let the poor say, ‘I am rich;’ because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks!” In that moment, God impressed something to the effect of this on my heart: “When you accept the gifts of God’s grace and seek after Him and His righteousness with all your heart, your spiritual weakness will become spiritual strength and your spiritual poverty will become spiritual wealth. You will be able to dance in the rain (have joy and trust the Lord amidst the storms of life)!” Just as I was happily allowing myself to get drenched by the rain in nothing but a short-sleeve shirt and a skirt, so God will allow us to have joy in Him amidst our struggles, even when we feel completely exposed and threatened. Yes, by God’s grace, we can dance in the rain. I hope you will join me!