Rain, Rain

Today it is raining so that I cannot safely do my work. The forecast for tomorrow is snow!

Farmers of crops, especially here in Kansas where the annual rainfall is precious, are known to say, “We never complain about moisture. We always need moisture.” There are, of course, variations to this saying.

Indeed the rain is cause for giving thanks, yet my sinful shortsightedness is not always thinking thus. Moreover, my flesh thinks back to this past summer when we desperately needed rain and the Lord withheld it. I have found myself praying, “O great, Lord! Why did you not send this when we really needed it?!”

Thankfully, the Lord has trained me for many years through His Scriptures and through the prayer that He gave to us and through the General Prayer of the Church. Through these He has taught me to hear His answer to my complaints. Through these He directs my heart to trust His wisdom and graciousness even when my perception cannot see this.

If I am willing to hear this, there are many things that accompany the rain for which to give thanks as well. My old body receives another day or two of rest from harsh labor. I have time to study and to call the repairman for our refrigerator that quit working. I could actually go on throughout the rest of the day listing all that is good that the Lord is working through today’s weather.

With this view St. Paul says that speaking to one another psalms and hymns and spiritual chants we will find ourselves giving thanks always, over all things, in the name of the Lord of us Jesus Christ to the God and Father. (Ephesians 5:19-20)

I continue to marvel at the Church’s liturgy as it has been handed down to us. How blessed we are to have the psalms and hymns and spiritual chants organized for us to utilize in this way.

So, let it rain. Let it snow. Let the sun bake the earth. We have the divinely ordained refuge of the holy Liturgy of the divine service, through which the Lord serves us what we need most and satisfies our souls and bodies together.

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