Though the Rain May Fall

I believe God can use any situation as an opportunity to teach us a life lesson. In the moment, we may not recognize it as such but when we develop a habit of looking for them, we can see them all around us. Yesterday was such a day for us.

We, my hubby and I, were taking a small contingent of kids from church to an air show. These kids are part of a pilot (no pun intended) program and we use an analogy of training to be a Top Gun; encouraging them to strive to be the best they can be, setting their standards higher, expect more of themselves. Planning the trip to the air show seemed an appropriate motivator and they were excited. We planned to leave straight after church, take a picnic lunch and make an afternoon of it.

On the day of the air show, our normally draught stricken part of Texas was under heaving, looming rain clouds. It started raining before church started and poured the duration of the service. People from church were saying the air show was rained out; we might as well stay for lunch. The air show and our church’s Thanksgiving meal together fell on the same day; the smell of the traditional feast wafting all around. We had have travel quite a distance to even get to the air force base and we were being told the weather was worse in the area of our destination; hot turkey and ham vs. soggy picnic lunch…..hmmmmm. Doesn’t sound like much of a competition, does it?

Yes, temptation called out loudly to us in the form of growling bellies and those that thought us crazy encouraging us to stay! Pay attention, here comes the life lesson.

Conventional wisdom would have us scrap our plans and indulge our flesh; stay warm and dry, eat in good company. This outing, however, was not just a picnic to have fun; it was a teaching tool in our service to the Lord. We were committed and prepared to see the mission through.

Preparation included a lot of prayer leading up to and the day of; especially when the rain started. We had thanked the Lord for the rain and asked if, perhaps, it could rain on our house instead of the air show for a few short hours.

Our picnic food was planned and packed intentionally in such a way we were able to eat in the car on the long, wet drive over. Though not hot, we had turkey and ham! We packed lawn chairs, umbrellas, and a water-proof mat for the kids to sit on.

The crowds were smaller this year, guess a lot of people thought the rain would win out. Then, there may have been those that were fearful to come to a military base after the tragic event at Fort Hood. Fear and circumstances will dictate actions if you let them.

Close to our destination, the rain stopped. We picked out an excellent spot from which to view all the activities, left our stuff in my Honey’s capable care and jaunted off to see the planes on exhibit. Then, clouds parted and planes took to the sky! We had an awesome time. From time to time, it did drizzle so we would pull out the umbrellas when needed and stash them back when not. Look what we would have missed if we listened to the nay- sayers!

Lesson taught: When you are serving the Lord, no one says it will be a picnic. You will have obstacles and circumstances that make your objective look unlikely and impossible. You will have people around discouraging you and saying it can’t be done. BUT when you are standing on His strength, all things are possible. Start with and stay in prayer! When you honor your commitment, not letting fear or what you see all around you hold you back, pushing on through the rain, the Lord parts the clouds just in time. THAT is walking in faith!