When The Rain Comes

This morning as I took out my *girls* I was surprised to find the grass damp and the porch steps wet with more than dew. I suppose sometime between 3:30am and 6:30am a little shower came. I was totally unaware.

So many people have been praying for rain around these parts lately due to the relentless fire that is blazing in the next county. You know fire can be a good thing at times. My husband has said before that if we would set our yard on fire then the grass would grow better because it would burn away all that is hindering it from growing now.

And I know there have been times in my life when I have spiritually walked through the fire of a trial, felt the heat of opposition, and I have come through to the other side *shining like gold* as He had removed the impurities from my life.

Then there is the consuming fire of the Holy Ghost. You know, I am so thankful that I have the Holy Ghost. I'm not talking about some watered down version, or some *third person in the trinity*, but I'm talking about God Himself dwelling within me. I am so thankful that when I received the Holy Ghost I spoke with tongues *like fire* and that it does feel like *fire shut up in my bones* just like Jeremiah said it did. I'm so thankful that no one shook my hand or patted my head and told me that I was *saved* but that God Himself came and filled me and I was baptized in the wonderful Name of Jesus, that Name above all names, the ONLY Name whereby we MUST be saved! That fire has saved me, it has set me free. (And I ask you, have YOU received the Holy Ghost since YOU believed)

But there is a destructive fire that comes and destroys everything in its path. This fire has no concern for what it leaves behind, no, its job is to take lives and leave ashes, take dreams and burn them to the ground. It can start out small and innocent seeming and in a moment it can over take lives and hopes and leave behind a scarred place that can never fully heal.

There is a fire burning within the heart of this world. Not a fire of praise, not a fire of worship, not a fire to glorify all that is holy and good, but a self-serving fire blazing hot with unrighteousness and immorality, consuming marriages, family, our children, while so many times the flame could have been extinguished with the tears of an interceding saint.

As I traveled down the highway this morning surrounded by dark, gloomy clouds, I could only see hope. For when the rain comes, life can begin, thirsty souls can be quenched, rivers of life can be replenished, and the fires of this world can be extinguished. Let the rain come, for I know it too has a purpose. And when the sun shines again, the flowers of my life will be blooming, surrounding me with the fragrance of mercy.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain....