Rain

When you go without rain for a couple of months, you pray for it. Then the day comes when you remember the wise old saying, "Be careful what you pray for; you just might get it." And so the rain prayed for comes, and comes, and comes. So that where one and a half inches of rain all of a sudden causes some mild flash flooding, six and a half inches of rain all of a sudden disrupts your life.

I am really a water person. I like rivers and lakes and streams and ponds. I like going to the coast to play in the Gulf of Mexico. As a kid I used to love walking barefoot in the little fast moving streams of water flowing along the curb of the street after a rain. But I am not a fan of ankle deep mub in the path I have to walk to get to work or the grocery store. And I do not like walking through ankle deep puddles of water to cross the road. And I do not like the mud that ends up coming down the hill from my neighbor's yard and covering my back patio. And why can't we have rain coats that are ankle length? Being dry from the knees up does not compensate for being soaked from the knees down.

I was really afraid that my lawn was going to die from lack of rain. And the lack of rain put restrictions on when I could use the sprinkler; times that were not convenient for me. So I really did hope it would rain. I simply had not concidered all of the possible consequences of getting what I wanted in great abundance.

Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive." He should have added, "Just make sure to think carefully before you ask." Well, at least we have the assurance that when we ask for what we really need, God will provide for us abundantly. Praise God!

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