It had started raining about 2 hours before my squad would gather with two other World Race squads for evening session. Some people were praying for the rain to stop, but I secretly hoped it wouldn’t. It stopped for a while as we all made our way to the roof of the hostel. As soon as the music started playing for worship, it started to sprinkle again. For a moment I was dissapointed because I was under the awning that covered half the roof. I wanted to go out into the rain, but then my clothes would get wet. Before the thought even finished crossing my mind, I realized how ridiculous it was. So I followed the Holy Spirit’s nudging and squeezed through the crowd to the other side of the roof. Facing away from everyone else, I began to worship.
Rewind for a second to a month prior. God had been showing me some areas I was walking in fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of what other people think. They were affecting every area of my life and my decisions, yet I hadn’t realized they were there. He used the verse in 1 John 4 that “perfect love casts out fear.” This past month I was trying to figure out how to live without those fears I had lived with for so long.
Back to worshipping on the roof. Seeing the lightning in the sky and feeling the rain, I was amazed again at how big and magnificent our God is. I briefly thought about how cool it would be if it started pouring rain instead of sprinkling. 30 seconds later, I got exactly what I had asked for. I was overwhelmed by the fact God would do that for me, when God spoke to me.
I love you. I love you so much. There’s nothing you can do to earn My love. I just love you.
It seemed in an instant, the fears I was struggling with were gone. I didn’t know how much I was thirsting for those words until He spoke them to me. All I could do was just sit there crying and praising God, soaking in His love.
God wants you to know how much he loves you as well. There’s nothing we can do to earn it, yet in fear we try to do all these things or hide parts of us to convince God we are acceptable. Just like rain brings new life and refreshment to the land, God’s love does the same thing to our hearts. God wants to shower you in his love just because He can.
Even if your clothes get wet, embrace the rain. Embrace God’s love.
