This past week has been RAINY. We’re set to break a record for rainiest winter here in NC. When I look out our back window, I can see huge puddles of standing water. Thankfully, it’s not anywhere near our house or any structures!
Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE rain. Unlike the Carpenter’s song, rainy days and Mondays don’t get me down at all. Come August and September, you’ll hear me complaining about not having enough rain for my parched plants. Rain just makes everything feel cooler. Refreshed. Greener. Better, in my opinion.
But lately it’s been a little too wet. Never thought I’d say that, but here we are. I wonder if this is how Noah felt during those first few days in the Ark. After a week, I can imagine him saying, “Okay God, I catch your drift (sorry, bad Mom pun, couldn’t resist). That’s plenty!” But it continued to rain 40 days and 40 nights – no reprieve. What must it have been like for all those people who were caught outside (without an Ark) watching the floodwaters slowly rising? While water can be life-giving, it can also be incredibly destructive.
Well, in the midst of this epic rain, the song “Flood” by Jars of Clay has been on repeat in my brain. The music video is VERY 90s, trying-to-be-grunge, and emo, but the message is pretty good.
Here are the lyrics in case you missed them:
Rain rain on my face
It hasn’t stopped
Raining for days
My world is a flood
Slowly I become
One with the mud
(Chorus)
But if I can’t swim after 40 days
And my mind is crushed
By the crashing waves
Lift me up so high
That I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up when I’m falling
Lift me up I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up I need you to hold me
Lift me up and keep me from drowning again
Down pour on my soul
Splashing in the ocean
I’m losing control
Dark sky all around
Can’t feel my feet
Touching the ground
(Chorus)
Man! I can really relate to this. Maybe it’s the pandemic or maybe it’s just life, but “slowly becoming one with the mud” and needing God to “lift me up so high that I cannot fall” are both completely on point with what I’m feeling and what I imagine many of you are feeling right now.
King David, my Old Testament boyfriend as I like to call him (I could write SEVERAL posts on why I think he’s bees knees, and maybe I will 😉 ), gives us hope that God does have the power to lift us up out of this gunk:
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)
Are you outside the Ark, slowly drowning in the floodwaters and storms of your life? Do you feel like you don’t have a firm place to stand?
GREAT NEWS! There IS a high rock you can stand on:
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25, ESV)
Jesus’ words and teachings are the rock. Cry out to Him and let Him rescue you today!
I’ll be praying for you this week! If there are specific things you’d like prayer for (floods in your life?), please feel free to send me a message on the “about” page or leave a comment on this post.
Here’s to sunnier days ahead!
Here’s a memory verse for this week! Save it as your phone wallpaper as a reminder that God gives us a firm place to stand!
Coming up:
Wednesday: All About Seeds – Part 3! Selecting Varieties for Planting
Next Sunday: Pruning Time
