God, Hold the Rain Back!

Joh 14:12-14 ¶ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

This post today is totally dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ and Who He is as I have seen Him do a miraculous work this week in answering a major prayer for our upcoming Missions Conference. For 23 years our church has collectively been involved in making two cakes, one for auctioning and one for eating at our annual CBC Fish Fry. I know that eating fish is not everyone’s cup of tea and for that reason we offered hamburgers and hot dogs with all the coleslaw and baked beans you can eat, and yes every kind of cake imaginable.  We promote this event with so much energy, that the excitement even affects our children. EVERYONE can get involved either by selling tickets, baking cakes, buying fish, making coleslaw and/or beans, frying fish, decorating, setting up, cleaning up afterwards, working the ticket door, cutting the cakes, judging cakes, and the list goes on and on!

The one constituent that could hinder a successful turn out for the fish fry would be the weather especially rain.  Every penny earned at the fish fry is given to our missionaries who attend the yearly Missions Conference but the money is not used for their salary and/or expenses. The church takes care of that portion. The money earned is for a new set of clothes, make-up, shoes, etc. We so desire to give to our missionaries an extra kick in their step that when they leave us to go to another church or go back to the field, they might feel completely loved and encouraged. I’m sure that when you get a new set of clothes, you feel better and can take on the world.  On a particular day all our missionaries will go to lunch with us and then to the mall. We turn them loose for the rest of the day to find a suit for the men and a new outfit for the women and ALL their children. So what is the big deal, Sharon? Glad you asked….

Our campaign on Prayer, written by our Pastor, ends this week. Our people have prayed for specific needs and have seen God answer! I wish I had the space to share all of what we have experienced and I do want to give God the glory for this one major one. He held the rain back! Our Sunday School class, taught by my husband, went to the altar last Sunday and prayed specifically for God to hold the rain back because so much depended upon us reaching our goal for our loved Missionaries. Can we fry fish under a shelter? Yes. Can we meet in our cafeteria and not get wet? Yes. Do we have an air-condition gym where the children can play? Yes. BUT…….

When the weather is good more of our people come out, especially the older crowd. When the weather is good, parents will allow the little ones to play in a safe, fenced in playground with no worries. When the weather is good, the oil for frying the fish stays hot! When the weather is good there is less chance of people slipping and hurting themselves, especially the senior citizens. When the weather is good, people from the community show up which creates a community type fellowship. When the weather is good families from out of town may join us.

We didn’t need rain! So, we went to the altar and prayed and trusted our God. Do you mean, Sharon, you actually prayed that particular prayer request? Yes, we did! All week we continually saw the weather report to be 40% chance of rain, then 50% and finally up to 90%.

At 5:30 on Saturday morning, the day of the fish fry, my husband called me to look at his computer screen. I fought a little emotion because I had already been on my phone and saw the rain was headed right through Ocala, Florida. Well, were we stupid to think God would hold it back? Who did we think we were anyway? God has more important stuff to think on than us pitiful creatures worrying about a rain that probably someone else was actually praying for!!! Oh me….what do we do? I stood in faith believing in spite of my flesh.

I slowly moved to look at my husband’s computer as he placed his finger on Ocala and said, “Look there above Ocala. What do you see?”

“Rain!”

“What do you see below Ocala, Florida?”

“Rain!”

“What do you see right on the center of Ocala?”

“No rain!”

We both just chuckled, so excited of what we had experienced right then. My faith jumped 50 degrees in the positive direction…..upward! I walked away thinking, “Did I have to see Ocala clear before I believed that God had already answered?” No, I did not. I had believed and so had my husband but God was just plain out being God! He is awesome and wonderful to a people so concerned about doing all we could for His missionaries, missionaries that were going to foreign fields to do what we CANNOT do. BUT, we could encourage them and offer them a little Christmas in March and send them off feeling somewhat better than when they came! We so desired for them to know that someone in the states would be praying for them as they faced obstacles and financial lows and so much more.

BUT there was another reason……..our precious Preacher has worked so hard lately to teach his flock the importance of PRAYER while he himself faced physical problems and other troubles that have kept him on his knees as well. He needed to see his people believe and grow in this area of PRAYER as they asked God for OTHERS and their needs.

Selfish? I think not, folks. I think not! What do you need, friend? Does God care that you have a need, even to hold back the rain?

Until next time, Lord willing,

Sharon