The gentle rain

At the close of Deuteronomy the nation of Israel is facing a huge transition. Moses is about to die, Joshua is about to take over, and the 40 year sojourn is ending. Finally, the conquest of the Promised Land is near enough to taste. Yet, with all the excitement that was surely in the air the sobering truth of man's depravity threatens to steal center stage. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.'" (Deu 31:16). With this gloomy reality as inspiration God gives Moses a song to teach to the people...

Last week we got a hail storm that almost covered the ground in icy white marbles. We were pelted with what felt like gravel as we scrambled to park our newest vehicle in the garage before the worst came. If music could be likened to rain I would expect this song to sound and feel a lot like last week's storm. But, from the Songwriter's pen who is the God of all surprises, listen to these lyrics:

"May my teaching drop as the rain / my speech distill as the dew / like gentle rain upon the tender grass / and like showers upon the herb."

Less poetic but just as surprising are Paul's words to Timothy, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort..." Many times us preachers are tempted to stop reading right there. We snort and paw at the ground like a bull ready to charge and the sheep we are called to lead by the cool waters we instead BBQ on the spot - all under the banner of this charge: preach the word, reprove, rebuke, exhort. If we keep reading, however, we see that Paul doesn't end the sentence here. It ends, "with complete patience and teaching." This sounds a lot less like hail storms and more like gentle rain on tender grass. Before we forget, many people of Timothy's church, and even our own for that matter, are probably a lot like the Israelites in our constant forsaking of God. The solution God provides is the patient teaching of His Word.

Let us thank God with the deepest gratitude that He doesn't pour down the hailstorms we deserve. Let us keep at center stage the gentle rain of His Word, and receive it like new grass desperate for life-giving refreshment.