Redeeming Rain

"While I (Ezekiel) was still prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah suddenly died. Then I fell face down on the ground and cried out, 'O Sovereign LORD, are You going to kill everyone in Israel?'" Ezekiel 11:13

I wonder how many of you are familiar with a children's storybook entitled, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", by Judith Viorst. After his day beginning with gum stuck in his hair, the following 24 hours for Alexander go from bad to worst. One calamity after another arrives and this dear little boy wonders if bad things only follow him. Do we sometimes feel likewise? Can we identify with this storybook character? Although the story is fictional, the facts remain. Regardless of age, position, or location we have probably all been touched by days, or even seasons, that have not turned out the way we had hoped and anticipated.

A couple of days ago I was preparing a document for the Women's Mission Circle Outreach, a ladies prayer group that I facilitate twice a month at our church. Reading each of the missionary letters that have been received over the past couple of weeks I was collecting all the "Prayer and Praise" requests so that we can best optimize our time at our next meeting as we lift each need to the Lord on behalf of these precious folk. Usually, the letters provide encouraging updates of all that God has done since their last correspondence, with upcoming opportunities listed for prayer. As I continued to open each letter, suddenly one took all my attention. It was like reading a revised edition of the children's book referenced above. Hardship after hardship had fallen to this family, and quite honestly, I was crying by the time I finished reading their update. Not that they neglected sharing ways they have seen the Lord at work, they did, but I could feel the weight of the intense trials they are currently enduring. Unrelentingly, and for months now, they have been physically, emotionally and mentally attacked. Even while writing the letter, they were interrupted with the news of the death of a child dear to their heart. Sometimes we wonder if we are caught in a vortex that will never end. My heart ached for this couple as I presented their needs before the Lord.

I sense the same circumstances revolving around Ezekiel. He has been struggling with all that he sees around him and the devastation, destruction and denial of the Lord from those living in the land. In the middle of the messages he is delivering as a prophet of the Lord, suddenly we read of the unexpected death of Benaiah's son, Peletiah. The news overwhelms the prophet as he falls face down on the ground and cries out to God. I know we have all been in that identical place. The news received may have been different, but our response the same. A death, accident, job loss, diagnosis, broken relationship or other unexpected and unwanted news arrives suddenly, threatening to put our lives into an unrecoverable tailspin, and we fall before the Lord in our pain and confusion.

I just want to remind us all, God sees. I know it hurts. I know it is hard. I know hearts and minds fill with questions. But I also know that God is using every detail to get us to where He wants us to go. Even when everything touching our lives seems too cruel to fathom, being allowed by a loving God, we cannot let it destroy our faith. If we do, Satan wins, and I for one do not want him to be victorious.

Several years ago, for a course I was taking at Heritage College and Seminary, I prepared a message entitled, "Redeeming Rain: Finding Purpose and Joy in the Storms of Life." The key text was taken from Philippians 1:12-18, as Paul encouraged the readers to believe that everything that happens helps to spread the Gospel of Christ if we surrender each circumstance to God, for Him to use all for His glory. Through the passage I shared four key purposes: a redeeming mission, redeeming moxie, redeeming motives and redeeming message, all because of one key component. We have a Redeemer. Not only can He save and rescue us, providing in desperate times, but His desire through all things is to redeem us from a life of sin because of what He accomplished on the cross in our place. Maybe more than being rescued from a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day", we need a rescue from a life that needs to be redeemed. Won't you come to Him today, acknowledging your sin, and respond to His invitation of salvation? As I've quoted from my friend Lina Abujamra before, "God is more than enough for your not enough."