Let it Rain

I used to hate the rain.

Being an Arizona native and a desert rat at heart, I was used to things the way they are most of the time here: dry, dusty, and—did I mention—dry? Rain just seemed always to have a way of screwing things up for my friends and me. When it rained, we had to get out of the pool because a stray lightning bolt was sure to strike the water and electrocute us. When it rained, our parents wouldn't let us go out (and if we already were out, we knew we had better get home soon). When it rained, it was just gloomy and depressing. I always felt like God was sad and His tears were pouring down on us.

I used to hate the rain...

...until one rainy day 10 years ago.

The date was January 28, 2001. It was a wet Saturday, and I was grumpy because I had outdoor plans scheduled with friends on that particular day. But the rain foiled my plans and doomed me to a drab and boring evening indoors. Or so I thought. What I didn't know was that this would be the most important day of my life.

You see, a long time friend of mine named Gary called up and invited me to go to an event downtown. He told me it was called The Desert Harvest Crusade. Now, I didn't know what that meant, but I knew Gary was a devout Christian and so I guessed where this was headed. Normally, I would have lied and made up some excuse to politely turn him down. But because he was always such a good friend to me, I figured I would humor him and go along this one time, just so he could feel like he was doing some good.

We arrived after dark at the Phoenix Civic Center. It was still raining, and I was dreading the next few hours before me. "Just grin and go along with it," I told myself. "It will be over in no time." I didn't know how deeply true those words really were for me.

If you've been to a solid Bible-based church for any length of time, this event would not have stood out as a ground-breaking enterprise in soul-winning. All the elements were there: warm and welcoming greeters, Christian songs (that I found a bit sappy at the time), and of course authoritative preaching. But somehow for me, this was all new. I didn't expect any of these things to affect me so deeply, especially the message that was preached.

Here's where the day became monumental. Here's where everything changed. For the first time in my life, I learned that I had a serious problem called sin. I was born with this problem and there was nothing I could do about it. My whole life I thought I was in good standing with God, but on this night, I realized that was not the case. My sin separated me from Him, and I learned that I was living my life in hostility towards Him.

Then I heard about Jesus Christ, and that the entire Bible speaks about Him. I learned He came to die to take away my sin. In fact, I learned that His blood would wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin (Psalm 51). And all I had to do was come and take this free gift that He offered. I needed to bathe in His cleansing blood of forgiveness. I needed to be right with God, justified in His sight.

God was clearly calling, and I eagerly responded. I didn't know all the future ramifications for what was happening to me, but it didn't really matter. The most important need any person has is to be ransomed by Jesus, and this is what happened to me on that rainy January night in 2001.

What else can I say? It's been ten years by the calendar, but a whole lifetime has passed for me. When I think back on that night, I think fondly of the rain. I see how it cleans the pollution from the sky and washes the dirt away. These days, I absolutely adore the rain. It reminds me of that wonderful day ten years ago.

Most of all, it reminds me that I was as dirty as I could be, but Jesus washed me clean once and for all.

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdomof God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdomof God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)