August 27, 2018: And just like that, the skies opened up and an isolated storm began to dump torrential rain over a small area, which included our house. The sun was shining before, during, and after the downpour.
God was. God is. God always will be.
Some thoughts occurred to me:
1. Walking through the garden earlier today, I thanked God for the best garden we've ever had. I also reminded myself that I needed to pull out the hose and water the garden sometime today.
Though our plantings are small, they are bountiful. The cherry tomatoes continue to give us more each day. We didn't even plant them this year because they reseeded from last year. The plants I did plant from seed actually grew, which doesn't often happen for me, despite us providing good soil. Even the sunflowers grew beautiful and tall - another first!
What changed this year? The only thing I did differently was that this year I spent a lot of time singing to the garden, and speaking growth and health over the plants. I spent little time wishing for growth, and being frustrated when I didn't see it. Instead, I spent my time on encouragement and remaining hopeful. I changed my focus. Because I changed my focus, I had to change my actions. I sang about that at Excelerate Worship on Saturday night. Timely.
2. So on Saturday night, I also sang a song I wrote in October of 2010, called, "Open Up the Skies". It asks God to pour out the Heavens and show us His power. And I remembered in July at Excelerate I sang another song I wrote in 2003, called "Praise God For This", about everything going wrong and choosing to praise Him anyway. It was kind of a Job song, since at that season in my life I was kind of going through a Job time.
After I sang "Praise God", we had several losses in our life earlier this month. Even though they came as suddenlies to us, they were not suddenlies to God. I sensed we were being tested if we were really going to praise during difficult circumstances. I sensed God's timing for these losses was significant, and part of His time table. What's even more interesting, I think, is that in the weeks before the losses I felt unusually compelled to wear a wrist watch. I haven't worn a watch in probably 20 years. Timing is everything. We need to know the times and the seasons, and respond according to what we've learned in the seasons of preparation and waiting.
I believe God allows things to happen for many reasons. Sometimes we ask for problems by making bad choices and reaping the consequences. Sometimes we do everything as best we can, and the refining fires come anyway. We tend to give little significance to the words that come out of our mouth. It's foolish to be superstitious, but it's wisdom that says words have weight, and we can change the atmosphere around us by remaining focused on the promises of God. Both songs really say the same thing, but they were written during different levels of my revelation and growth. Our worship should always be a reflection of our revelation, and the fruit of our understanding.
Today we needed rain, and God provided rain. My words aligned with my revelation, and I saw fruit in both the natural and supernatural.