Jesus Rains

Isaiah 55:9,10 – For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. (KJV)

There was much to be accomplished in several different cities during a recent ten day visit to Ontario. A site had to be scouted out for a future family reunion; a surprise retirement party had to be attended; friends and family, new and old were to be met and visited; activities were planned and so on.

About midweek, my cousin had a Physical Education conference to attend in a city 150 miles from her home. The plan was to drop me off at my uncle's on the way so I could visit while she "conferenced". About that time, too, I was beginning to feel I could use a little more spiritual sustenance than I'd been supplying myself.

They say the Lord works in mysterious ways and He sure did that day. We set off in quite a shower which worked its way into a terrific thunderstorm. The radio announcer was giving the road conditions interspersed with the lightning activity from the previous evening. 37,000 hits in the area. Two kids killed. One house set afire. Multitudes of trees slashed in half.

Lightning flashed angrily across the sky, thunder dropped like a load of lumber. We held a healthy respect for the outside conditions as it slowed the traffic, resulting in my not being able to get dropped off, and having to continue on to the conference which just happened to be in a Roman Catholic College.

I had planned to hang out in the library, but was waylaid by the bookstore which preceded the library. A lone book just beckoned. It was full of ordinary stories of faith in ordinary lives, and all the way through, I felt like it was speaking to me, with me, about me, like me. Without the storm, I would never have read it. It was one of those many times throughout the day when one just smiles a silent prayer of thanks. It seems the rains He sent, sent the message that He reigns.

Prayer: We give thanks, Oh Lord, for those many times when what may seem to be a "detour" is your way of keeping us on the right path, and rather than seeing something as a "stumbling" block, you are providing us with yet another "building" block for our foundation of faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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