I really love the rain! When it rains I feel like everywhere that the water touches gets a fresh start. I love to stand in the rain, to play in the puddles, to smell the fresh water on the plants, and to hear that sound of water falling from the sky.
But, there are a lot of people who hate the rain! It surprised me to hear this, because when you really enjoy something you don't understand how someone could dislike it. The people who hate rain don't like being wet or cold, they don't like the streets being wet, getting their hair messed up, or the sound of rain hitting the house and streets. Because of this, they are upset when it rains.
I noticed that whenever Christians have an event, they rebuke rain in the name of Jesus, they want perfect, warm, weather! I've even seen people upset with God when it rains on the Church Picnic. "Why would God let it rain on us? This is an important event and we prayed for perfect weather all day! So why do we have to endure the rain!"
You can laugh at that, it is pretty funny after all, yet I look at this as a spiritual principle. Don't we do that in our lives?
When "Rain" or "Storms" come into our lives, we panic! We pray that God would make all hardship just go away! And if it doesn't, if we aren't happy 24/7, we blame God for "not taking care of us" or "not answering prayer!"
A lot of Christians have "Fair Weather Faith" these days.
If you look at birds in the springs and summer, they seem content. They play in the water, have little babies, and live their lives. But once they notice that it is getting cold, they will all fly away from that place to a warmer one. People get upset when their friends are like this. "Fair Weather Friends" who will be with you at parties and go to dinner when you are rich and happy, but when you owe rent on your house or have a family issues that it hurting you, they are suddenly unreachable.
We get so upset at people like this.
"How can you call me your friend if you won't even be with me during the hard times!"
We think that we would never abandon a friend in need! But have we considered that we are like a fickle bird in our faith?
It's easy to be a Christian when you are going to picnics, concerts, and everything in life is as happy as a fairy tale. But that's not the case all the time, is it?
Being a follower of Christ is hard.
"Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Mans sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in Heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the Prophets."
Luke 6:22-23
Not only were the disciples during and after Christ's time on Earth persecuted and hated by others, but it has been that way since the days of Noah and the Prophets! Because of our faith our life is hard. Christianity is not a crutch for the weak, it is a commitment and life for the strong. For when we are weak, He makes us strong!
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:10
Paul is one of the figures that we all look up to, because he had such an amazing faith. He was not only willing to die for the Gospel, but he was willing to live for the Gospel!
I think that it is easier to say "I would die for God", especially since most of us think that we will not, but to live through the abuse of others is harder than dying. Never did Christ say that it would be easy to follow him, he said that we would be hated and that we should rejoice in the persecution!
It may sound like a cliche, but it's true, that God doesn't make things easy, but He will help us through it. He won't stop the storms, because He knows when we need them, but he will be our shelter from the storm.
I feel that "Christians" will go to bible study and church, but once something hard happens their faith is shaken and they doubt if God even cares. But we live in a fallen world, and if we don't have an eternal perspective we see things that hurt or are hard as bad or terrible. We fly from our faith as soon as winter comes.
The thing is that when winter comes in our faith, so to speak, we fly away from the place that we were in. We don't sit in the place that we were until spring comes again, but we try to leave to a "better place". But we miss out on the blessings and the growth and stay in the same place in our maturity because we wouldn't stick out the winter. God isn't asking us to die in the cold, because he is our shelter, but once we leave His shadow and protection things can only get worse for us.
I ask myself, and challenge you to ask the same, "Am I a Fair Weather Christian?"
Do I get mad at God when things are hard, or don't go my way? Do I leave my faith behind when something looks more appealing? Are my beliefs based on my happiness alone, and if I am not happy I leave them?
One of the songs that I sing to remind myself of this is "Have Your Way" by Britt Nicole. Because it is about the hard times, and that we should let God have His way during those times, and not our way.
God does give us blessed times, comfort us, and answer our prayer. But he sees the whole picture and knows what's best for us.
I think that it is important to know that being a Christian is difficult, but so much more rewarding. And when you leave during that hard times, you don't grow and you appreciate the warm times as much. We need to choose joy in all times, and trust God with our lives.
I could go on forever, but I want to make this shorter so that those who read this can pray and consider on their own.
Refining the Faith,
-C.A.M.
