Raining on Lewis Street!

As I was driving home yesterday evening, I had a very strange experience.  As I was driving south towards my home, it was beginning to lightly rain.  As I usually do, when I got into Eatontown I made a right onto Lewis Street heading west, and as I did it was pouring as hard as could be.  I then had to turn back east to cross over the highway toward my neighborhood. The rain lightened up again. And, when I turned down my block, the sun was shining bright as could be.  In my neighborhood, no one would have known that less than half a mile away, on Lewis Street, it was raining cats and dogs!

Many people might try to read some sort of significance into all of this.  Was the rain a blessing for the people on Lewis Street since they (and we all) need the rain for our lawns?  Or, was it a blessing for my neighbors and me on Applebey Street that the sun was shining? After all, I was hoping to grill our dinner (which I did). Which was the blessing, the rain or the sunshine?  Was it one or the other? Could one neighborhood claim God’s blessing over the other?  Maybe it depended on one’s perspective. 

Jesus said, “He (God) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45 – NIV)  In other words, we all constantly live surrounded by the blessings of God, blessings that none of us deserves and none of us can earn.  Each one, the rain and the sun, is a sign of God’s grace yet at work within our lives and our world.

I would suggest that, no matter what we receive, the rain or the sunshine, we would learn to see the gracious hand of God at work within our lives. May we learn to recognize that there is a God in heaven who is constantly at work in our world and in our lives, pouring out all kinds of undeserved blessings upon us, as he seeks to let us know of his great love for us. And, may we learn to respond to him with the thanksgiving and praise that he deserves. 

I want to remind you today that, whether or you live on Lewis Street or Applebey Street or any other street, God loves you and has many blessings in store for you.

“May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.” (Psalm 67:5-7 – NIV) 

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris