When God Brings Healing Rain

When God tells you to do something, the best thing to do is to do it to the best of your ability.

I’ve been doing hiking and backpacking for a long time. Since the year that I met my husband I’ve been introduced to hiking then backpacking for days. Being in the center of the beauty and freshness of God’s creation seemed natural for me. I learned that it’s where I breathe the best.

I have hiked in West Virginia, the Grand Canyon, Sedona, St. Kitts Island, Michigan, Minnesota and more places than I remember. I have backpacked in some of those places too. The big one is in the Algonquin National Park in Ontario, Canada. That place is intensely challenging. That’s where I learned to appreciate canoeing, portaging and backpacking all in one. It’s where I have experienced God like no other place. 

A friend and I took a group of 14 ladies to northern Michigan for a four-day backpacking trip. I didn’t volunteer to do this, I was asked to do it. Then God told me that I should do it.

I was nervous.

I was scared.

I felt overwhelmed.

I felt somewhat confident.

I felt inadequate.

I trusted God to use me.

I surrendered.

I had gone on enough backpacking trips as a participant but I had never led a group of ladies into the wilderness before. I kept asking God why he chose me to lead this group. He kept saying, “Because you are qualified and capable.”

Our time in the woods was … challenging.

On Saturday the rain came in buckets.

They weren’t small buckets.

They were giant-size buckets!

The ground couldn’t drink the water fast enough.

It seemed like the tents were going to float away.

The ladies stood under a tarp that was tied to four trees. Trying to fit 16 ladies under a not-so-big tarp made it a bit crowded. As we watched the clouds pour the rain down we decided to pray. We asked God to stop the rain. We begged Him to stop the rain. We fervently prayed.

The prayers turned into worship. The worship that happened was never meant to be on any stage because we didn’t remember all the words to the songs but God knew our hearts. As we worshipped we saw the sun peak through the clouds. It was exciting and encouraged us to keep worshipping. As the rain stopped, we worshipped still. Mixed with laughter, the words continued to be messed up. We persisted until the sun shone through with its brilliant warmth.

Wow God! It was stunning. It was rewarding.

God honored our diligence in worship even when everything around us was wet, even a little cold and very messy. He kept the sun shining long enough for us to have circle time. Each lady shared what God had done in their hearts that day. It was incredible to see God move even in the mess around us. God is so good to us.

God spoke to me while we were under the tarp.

Sometimes life is painful. God’s desire is to point to the pain and wash it out of your life. His desire is for you to not have it anymore. There are times when He brings his healing rain to wash it away. As you let him do that, it can get messy. Sometimes it gets real messy. In the midst of the mess worship God with persistence and determination to get through. Let the healing-mess happen because in time it was become beautiful. There will be times of seeing a glimpse of the beauty but you need to keep pushing through the healing-mess that may keep coming.

Remember that in the end there is a beauty especially created for you. The beauty will become brighter and clearer. Allow yourself to soak it in and revel in it.

As God was speaking to me, he took me through a slideshow of my life. He showed me how my life needed healing. He came in and washed it away. It got real messy but it was a process that I needed to go through in order to see the incredible beauty that was God-ordained. It’s been worth it. Fun? No, but worth it.

Is your life messy in the midst of the healing rain?

Are you worshipping the God of the Universe in the midst of the pain?