Let the rain pour down

Hello everyone, today I want to start off by sharing a video from one of my favorite speakers, Rob Bell.  The first time I saw this video it hit home right away and brought me to tears...well at least on the inside.  The following devotional is about fear and I feel this video is a great lead in to this topic.

Enjoy, "Rob Bell's Rain portion of his NOOMA set": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_kJpVjLwVY&playnext=1&list=PL659BC2970DBA95A1

If you live in LA and even on the east coast right now we have all had our fair share of rain.  For LA we have had an exceptionally high amount of rain lately...even though comparatively to the east coast it still isn't a lot.

I don't know about your life during this new year so far, but mine sure feels like it keeps raining.  I knew it would be a year of change and even stated so in January.  What I forgot, in my optimistic look at the changes to come, was that with change is growth and with growth we some times experience pain.  The changes that have occurred so far for me were not necessarily the changes I was envisioning or looking for in the new year.  I have to remind myself though, that it is foolish to think that "my plans" and ideas for the future are a map of what is to come at all.  Gods plans and ideas are greater, better planned and in the works long before I come up with my naive "plans" for my future.  When will I learn? :)

I say all of that to say that I have noticed the rain in my life and have even felt like the screaming baby on his fathers back literally crying out in the humblest purest form wanting the "rain" to stop.  I have to remind myself, of Gods promise to us, that Rob mentions, "when you cry out to me, I listen.'  He even says, ‘I cannot ignore the cries of someone who is afflicted.'"  However, just like the baby I sometimes can only see the reality of the storm and fail to see beyond the rain.  Sometimes I can't feel Gods warm embrace even though I am sure he feels how Rob describes the following, "I pull him close to my chest, and I wrap my arms around him.  I hold him so tightly up against my heart...whisper into his ear, over and over again, ‘I love you, buddy. We’re gonna make it. Dad knows the way."  When I struggle now and feel like I am crying in the rain, I try to remember that God is saying..."I Love you Sam, you're gonna make it, I know the way".  When I watched this video and really thought of it with this analogy the comfort and power that came across me was overwhelming.  It showed me that no matter what storm would come my way or what fear I may have to face God is holding me tight to his chest telling me he loves me and will help me through.

When I think of all of this the first scripture that comes to mind is the following:

Psalm 23:4- "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

I don't know about you, but every time I read or hear this scripture I really "feel" the "walk through the valley of the shadow of death"...part.  The imagery and emotion that come across in my mind are so deep, dark and emotional.  It literally brings an emotional shiver through my body.  It also takes me back to some of my darkest and lowest memories/moments in my life.  Quickly my emotions tied to those memories are of comfort and strength, because God did guide me through those dark times and allowed me to face and conquer fears that I truly felt I couldn't handle.  He was comforting me the whole way through whether I acknowledged it or not.  

The next scripture seems to reflect what the "Rain" video is saying:

Isaiah 41:13- "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

We live in a culture where someone holding our hand is a comfort and often brings joy to our heart and a smile to our face.  I immediately have a movie of images that run through my head to express this, but will share my thoughts :)  If you think about different scenarios when someone has held your hand and how that made you feel, I bet it is tied to the feeling of comfort and safety.  I think about friends grabbing your hand to give it a gentle squeeze to say, "It's ok friend, I am here" during a trying time or loss in your life.  I also think of the first time you hold hands with your significant other...there's something comforting and protective about that act as well.  You feel safe in their hands literally.  With that in mind, the above scripture becomes much deeper and more meaningful when it mentions God taking hold of our hand and telling us to "...not fear"...for he, "..will help you".

Two other scriptures speak to this strength we can have in the lord and how with that strength fear is almost obsolete.  Those scriptures are:

2 Timothy 1:7- "For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline."

Psalm 27:1- "The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid"

Whenever I am struggling with fear, sadness or just the feeling of being overwhelmed I think of Psalms 27:1 and the song, "Who am I" by Casting Crowns...here is an excerpt from that song:

"Not because of who I am, But because of what you've done. Not because of what I've done, But because of who you are.  I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind.  Still you hear me when I'm calling, Lord, you catch me when I'm falling, And you've told me who I am.  I am yours....Whom shall I fear...Cause I am yours"

Those words and knowing that these things are true, to me is such a blessing and comfort in my day to day life.  No matter what I might be going through, facing and or struggling with I always know that God is there guiding me, holding me close to his chest telling me, "I Love you Sam, you're gonna make it, I know the way."

To wrap all of this up and leave you with more reading for a later day :)  I have to mention one of my favorite blogs that a good friend of mine shared with me a few months ago called abeautifulrippleeffect.com.  I can't tell you how many times I have gone to that blog and found a post that I am directly relating to.  Sometimes it feels like she and I are going through the same ups and downs in life.  Once again our lives and thoughts seem to be on the same wave length.  When writing this post and looking for inspiration I decided to visit Carolyn Rubenstein’s blog once more, sure enough she connects with me again.  I feel one of her recent post sums up and relates to what I have been discussing in this post quite nicely.  If you have the time I highly suggest checking out her blog and this post in particular.  http://www.abeautifulrippleeffect.com/2011/02/on-a-high-dive-inspiration-from-steven-spielberg-my-dad/ 

I always find it comforting to read or hear about someone else that has experienced or is experiencing the same emotions and thoughts I might be having.  I hope at the very least this blog post and any other posts I might make can do just that for those of you who are reading them.  Thank you for taking the time to step out of your every day life for a moment and reflect on some thoughts I have bouncing around in my head :)