January 28, 2020

It has been so dry here in Central Texas that two of my three tanks are in serious need of water. As the old joke goes:

It’s so dry in Texas that the Baptists are starting to Baptize by sprinkling . .

The Methodists are using wet-wipes . .

The Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks . . and

The Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water.

This morning when I got up to take out the dogs, it was pouring rain. And the dogs, not remembering what rain was, refused to go into the back yard. This meant me standing in the rain making sure they did their business before letting them back in the house. I was soaked to the bone and not happy.

As I dried off the dogs, I realized that when I leave for work later this morning, I will have to walk out to my truck in the pouring rain, open the top gate, pull through, get out of my truck to close the gate, drive to the main gate, get out of the truck to open the gate, pull through, then get out of my truck again to close the gate. All of this will happen as the rain comes pouring down.

Suddenly, the rain that I had been praying for seemed more like a curse than a blessing, which simply shows how self-consumed and short-sighted I actually am.

I am one of those people that lets the petty inconveniences of life get in the way of seeing the big picture. If things don’t go exactly the way I want or if I experience a little discomfort or pain, then it is clear the world is coming to an end and God needs to do a better job.

So if you are like me – stop it. Grow up and be a mature Christian and know there will be times when life goes our way and there will also be times when it won’t. But none of that changes the fact that we have a good and gracious God who loves us more than life itself.

In those moments when you experience trials and tribulations, remember the words of faith spoken by Job, when he life turned into a Stephen King novel: He said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb; naked I will return there. The LORD has given; the LORD has taken; bless the LORD’s name.” (Job 1:21)

Being a mature Christian is about seeing the long game and trusting that no matter what the momentary challenges of life, ultimately, God’s got it under control. That’s all we need to know.

Prayer: Dear Gracious Heavenly God, thank you for the rain and the other blessings of my life. Give me a heart of gratitude, grace, and compassion. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Because I am very delicate, I would have rather God made it rain while I was asleep and let the sun shine when I am awake. It didn’t work out that way. God is good.

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.

Tom Robbins