Reflections + Raindrops

An entry I wrote on August 14, 2011 (2:39AM)

The monsoon season is far from over. Since I am forever infatuated with summer, this season is not something I look forward to. Fortunately for us, God speaks through his creation. He whispers spiritual insights into just about anything. Rain showers and thunderstorms are not exceptions. They remind me of the day when I was spiritually low, solitary in an empty library, and watching the rain pour endlessly. “The Hind’s Feet on High Places”  was a faithful companion that day and my imaginative goggles were on.

I sat there silently listening, the droplets were quietly crashing to the ground. I pitied them. From the time they were conceived until they reach their maturity, they were destined to die. I imagined the stench of death everywhere as they fall helplessly, inching closer and closer to their grave. I imagined how each droplet dread the day they were called todrop everything and plunge toward the earth. It must have been painful. The distance between the atmosphere and the earth could have been magnified a million times. They were falling, dying. Their journey was a long one.

On the other side, a tiny seed was thrusted into the earth. Abandoned. Choked by the dirt all around it as darkness closes in. With no light and no companion, it dies a miserable death.Both are unaware of their destinies. Two seeming deaths gave birth to life: a rainbow hoisted as a triumphant banner across the clear sky and a seedling sprouting out of the moist ground it considered its grave.

Despite the fact that their sacrifice produced life, I think it is a hopeless kind. They were completely unaware of the future. They did not know about the amazing things that happened after they lose themselves completely.

In John 12:20-35, Jesus predicted his death while Hebrews 12:22 talks of the joy that was before him which motivated him to endure his cross. Its hard to imagine how death and joy could be in the same sentence. But that’s the Christian life. And as Christians, like the rain and the seed, we are called, predestined to do the same.

If only he was referring to death in the literal sense, things could be a lot easier, however, deaths come in various forms and sizes. Death could mean asking for forgiveness from someone you wronged whether unintentionally or not. It could mean restoring your broken relationship with your parents. It could be letting go of your rights and putting other’s needs first. It could mean going after a dream or running away from it. But for most of us, it simply means surrendering our will, our thoughts, our feelings, our entire self, moment-by-moment to the Lordship of Christ.

Whatever it might look like for you, be certain that Christ was and is and will be on the same path, walking with you, and urging you to remember the life that is promised you. Surely, we would realize that we never truly lived until we have died a thousand little daily deaths, with Him and for Him.