Summer Rains

Coming home after being away in Brazil for two weeks was exciting for me - except for one thing.  My anticipation of the summer furnace that would greet me was foreboding.  I love this city, but, the heat that attends our summer's here bothers me more and more each year.  

When I stepped out of the airport and into my car, however, things were not as I expected.  Instead of a furnace blast, I was hit with a cool breeze. Then, a few days later, there followed 2 days of 'summer rain'. 

Now I know these rains are possible.  Of my 59 years, I have lived 49 of them in Texas, and have seen this phenomenon before.  But... like most who live here... not so much.  With our Texas summer we get clouds that flirt but don't ask us out. We get 'showers' that make things worse, not better.  But rare is the sound of thunder in a late July or August sky.  Rarer still the sound of 'real' rain on our 160˚roof's. And rare beyond rare find we puddles for our birds to bathe, cool streets in which our kids might play, and a cloudy covering over our sky that stays.  Yes, in Texas, we have one word for a summer rain - and that's 'grace'. 

Yet, isn't God's grace better than a Texas summer rain?   For not only is it not what we expect, it is not what we deserve.  So that, in Texas, a 'Summer Rain' can be a reminder of the ways of God - just when you think you've been given all there is, He gives you more.  

So enjoy the summer rain today.  Be reminded of a God who saves, by grace, and leaves us, as such, with the wonderful promise of more - the promise of John 10:10. 

Pastor Sam