by Keith Gardner
Luke 12:54 He [Jesus] said to the crowd: "When you see a
cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it
does.
The four Gospels, record the life and words of
Jesus, modeling for us a life dedicated to God our Creator. In His teachings He
uses rain as a teaching tool three times. In Luke Jesus is illustrating how we
look to the skies to make predictions about the weather. He goes on to teach
that, likewise, if we know the markers of God’s Word we will recognize our
place in history foretold.
The other two rain illustrations are used to teach us heavens view of the problems and difficulties we find ourselves in during the course of living. Too often, as Christians, we use difficulties as a barometer of God’s love for us. When things are going well, I am good and God loves me for it. When the trials of living knock me around, I tend to view these difficulties in one of two ways. First, I am not good and God is giving me my due reward; or second, I am good and God doesn’t care about me, or worst He doesn’t love me. As maturing believers we must realize that trials are not a barometer of God’s love. God’s love is strong, steadfast and true. There is only one measure of God’s love; “For God so love the world that He sent His one and only Son….”
The other two rain illustrations are used to teach us heavens view of the problems and difficulties we find ourselves in during the course of living. Too often, as Christians, we use difficulties as a barometer of God’s love for us. When things are going well, I am good and God loves me for it. When the trials of living knock me around, I tend to view these difficulties in one of two ways. First, I am not good and God is giving me my due reward; or second, I am good and God doesn’t care about me, or worst He doesn’t love me. As maturing believers we must realize that trials are not a barometer of God’s love. God’s love is strong, steadfast and true. There is only one measure of God’s love; “For God so love the world that He sent His one and only Son….”
Matthew 5:45 “He causes
his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and
the unrighteous.” In today’s vernacular we would say “stuff happens”. In the
reality of Christian living, trials tend to reflect one of two heavenly ideas;
correcting or maturing. The goal of our faith is to become like Christ. When we
accept Jesus into our lives we began that journey. The more we grow, the more
that is expected. When we stray from what we have learned, God uses trials to
bring us back into alignment with our level of understanding (Heb. 12:8-17).
Trials are also used to mature us. This maturing
affects us at different levels. For example often we have wrong ideas of what Christian
living is really like – they are our own ideas and not God’s. Trials are used
to change our perspective (James 1:2, 1 Peter 1:6). There are also the trials
of increasing faith. The more we find it necessary to trust in God, the more we
learn to trust in God. Consider it exercising. We like the life of ease and
most of us will never push ourselves more than is required. Difficulties are
God’s way of pushing us to believe more.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus teaches the importance of
a firm foundation built on the Word of God; which is a reflection of His
character – who He really is. The torrent of rain will wash away any foundation
that is not strong and steadfast. Only God is strong and steadfast; everything
else is just sand.
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