Bow in the Rain

I sat and watched the rain this afternoon! What a wonderful surprise when this thunderstorm blew through. We really need the rain here!!!

It was refreshing to sit and just enjoy it all ~ the sound of the rain on the roof, watching the butterflies all flit to the underside of the leaves and eaves and the birds under every bush imaginable! There was a lot of scurrying in the flurry of rain drops (we got about 2 inches in an hour) and then I looked out at the labyrinth…oh, my.

That beautiful timber bamboo was brushing the ground, bowing and sweeping a little more with each gust of rain. The rain was rushing down each leaf and filling the paths of the labyrinth with water. What a gorgeous juxtaposition in the yielding of the bamboo to the power of the rain.

That’s the way of Grace, isn’t it? There is unimaginable beauty when we yield to Christ, as He comes to reign in us. Bowing and receiving what He brings to feed our soul and to move through our lives on to others. As I watched the tips of the bamboo bowing over today, they touched the center, as do we when we yield to His will for us.

He is in all things, never leaves us, Christ is faithfully with us in every step – thru every storm. We shouldn’t have to know if a storm is coming, or if the day will be clear blue skies and then decide to trust Him with the day.

An excerpt today from my devotional said, “Your weakness, My child, is my gift to you. Your strength is the rejection of that gift.” (Echoes of Eternity by Hal M. Helms) I know it is hard, natural even, for us to try to walk in our own strength, our own plans. Our habits, our steps, our routines are important to us, after all. Well, they also tell us where our focus is, just what our heart is bowing to. Think I will be taking a look at some “habits” that may have me standing tall in the reign, as His Grace pours out.

Bow, receive and live in His reign, my friends!

 He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this:

they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.

Psalm 40:2-3 ~ The Message