And yet, and yet…

About a decade ago, there was an interesting phenomenon happening in Austin. We had been locked in a terrible drought and our local reservoirs were approaching and sometimes below 30%. There were widespread brushfires that afflicted Central Texas communities. Businesses near lake areas were shuttering. All in all, not a great time.

The phenomenon that I’m referencing was a cultural moment where multiple churches in our area banded together to Pray for Rain. While this is something that farmers have done for millenia, to do so in a church era filled with weather forecasts, watering restrictions, and roadside ordinances was strange. Why would churches join in with a plea to the heavens to drop water onto a parched earth?

Nonetheless the community (us included) prayed to the Lord for rain, and praise God the drought broke. It was a refreshing time to watch lakes refill, green grass return, and giving a sigh of relief against what could have been.

And yet, in church life there’s also a really strange paradox. Because of the amount of outdoor activities that the church sponsors, we often find ourselves praying against rain. We fear the coming of rain during Vacation Bible School or sporting events, during outdoor services and trips. It’s a regular routine of our Beach Camps to ask the Lord to send the rain around our patch of beach to rain in other places. In those moments that we have plans and programs, we ask the Lord to hold off the rain for a little while.

We have so little control over our lives. And in fact, less than we’d like to think. By no measure of skill or cleverness can we halt the sky from dropping rain. By no bloodletting or sacrifice or cloud-seeding can we force the skies to provide water for life.

We are sustained by His grace.

Yesterday our church held an Independence Day Celebration event we call Freedom Over Austin. We had a church festival, food trucks, and fireworks. We have been in the midst of a drought again and have been fervently praying for rain. Yet yesterday we prayed against the rain between the hours of 7:00-9:30. At 4:00, we had an absolute downpour. At 9:45 it began raining again. In the meantime, 2,000+ people in our Austin community gathered to celebrate our freedom and pray for our nation.

We are sustained by His grace.

In days of dryness or water, we lift our hands and praise our God. It is our Declaration of Dependence to Him.

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places.” Habbakuk 3:17-19 (ESV)