It came.
Phoenix, well, most of Arizona, got enough rain we were able to bring out our carriers-both Essex and Nimitz class, and float them down the gutter. In the mornings, before dawn and the sun lighting the streets, celebratory runs of naked cool freedom were witnessed running through people’s front yards from one end of the block to the other, only clad in an old pair of Hey Dude shoes, their arms raised in praise. It asks the question, on some days like this, when God shows up, are we noticing and can we see it or does it slide by us without waking us to the fact of the miracle that just happened.
The sun’s rise is supposed to be seen without clouds today. It was supposed to be done yesterday and we got dumped on anyway. Maybe today it will give us a good go. It will be nothing like what the east coast Outer Banks will get. I am sure you out there scoff at this message. But I can tell you one thing, you won’t be able to stand and float your Essex or Nimitz down your gutters like we can out here! You won’t be able to find the gutter for one thing.
We have….
We have, like I said above, sometimes a dichotomy of events happening at the same time. Many times, I would even say most of the time, you will have opposite responses. Some of us will raise our hands in joy, allowing the cleansing rain to hit our faces as we stand symbolically naked in our neighbor’s front yard, laughing at the childlike joy of fresh cleansing rain hitting us while the dogs we are trying to walk around the block in the early morning are standing patiently looking at their master and I am sure thinking, what the hell are we doing, Dad?
It is….
It’s the exact same look and thought sometimes I have with the Lord and its usually on the other end of the happiness spectrum-God, what the hell are we doing? Yes, I swear sometimes when I talk to Dad. He understands and sometimes, in the lighter moments of my expression, I imagine He is smiling. He is my Dad and I am his adopted son and frankly, He is extremely proud of me. Not because of anything I’ve done, but because of the one decision I had to make-simply to believe.
The Lord is at both ends of these experiences. He makes it rain joyfully in parts of our world and in others, He causes it to rain with what could only be described as torrential anger. He allows it to happen. Why?
If I look back on my life from where I am now, I can see days of metaphorical rain. Whole seasons of rain. It was raining so much, I thought I would never see the end of it. But it was the rain, the hard never seeming to end rain, that brought the joy that followed. The older I get, the clearer the picture is from here, looking back and the fact the Lord was there, with me.
I can see where God showed up.Micah 7:18 ESV – God’s Steadfast Love and – Bible Gateway
He…present in my life.
He was always-is always here, present in my life. I know that. It has taken decades for it to be a belief which I am now comfortable wearing. But sometimes, in the loneliness of the event we are surrounded in, we lose track of that moment where He does show up or, said another way, where we get to see Him present, actively present in the moment. Incredible. Sometimes, it takes those moments for me to just be quiet and simply ask ‘what the hell are we doing, Dad? He knows I love him like a little boy to his big Dad. God knows my frustration which causes me to question what we are doing. He knows the end of the story and knows I am struggling in a mortally infected world. God also knows me and my heart and He is crazily proud of me and where I am. The Lord simply knows me. He draws closer to me, in those times where it seems overwhelming-
we float wood in the shape of aircraft carriers down the gutter.
He always shows up, or rather, allows us to see Him in the present. Sometimes, that is all I need.
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