“Faithful and true is the Word of our God
All of God’s works are so worthy of trust
God’s mercy falls on the just and the right
Full of God’s love is the earth” ~ Jamie Cortez, Rain Down
The antiphon to that familiar hymn proclaims, “Rain down, rain down, rain down your love on your people.” We have experienced a lot of rain these past couple of weeks and, I have to tell you, whenever it rains, I almost always end up singing or humming that hymn to myself as it rains. The rain, after all, is a great visual of God’s graces showering down upon His people.
Not everyone likes the rain. Some complain because it hampers their plans. Perhaps they wanted to attend a ball game and the game got postponed. Perhaps they were going to a picnic and everything had to be moved indoors. Maybe they wanted to go boating or to the beach. Those plans got scrapped. Because of that, they look down on the rain and wish that it had not come.
Where would we be without rain, though? We might not always like the rain, but the ground and the plants not only like it, they need it. As a matter of fact, they welcome its coming.
Have you ever looked at trees before the rain? When rain is approaching, as far as several hours before, the leaves of many trees turn. They either turn perpendicularly at least or turn nearly upside down. This is so the underside of the leaves can take in the water as it pours through the leaves. The upper part of the leaves repel the water while the underside takes in some of the nourishing and refreshing water.
We sometimes look upon God’s graces as water, as rain. God gives us some wonderful graces but we might not like the fact that they distract us from what we would rather do. God calls us to service while we might want to be more selfish. His raining down upon our lives is often greeted much the same way as we greet an unwelcome rain shower or storm.
When God rains down His love on you, be like the trees. Turn everything within you to be able to soak up His graces rather than repel them.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to help you to be open to the graces that He has in store for you today and, when they come down upon you, use them to the fullest.