Rain on Me!

By Peter Lundell –

The sky finally dumped rain in Southern California—in October. Through all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen more than spit and drizzle this early in the rainy season. Today it came with thunder and torrential downpour. Kim and I thanked God for it and prayed for more. My daughter texted me with a request for an umbrella.

After a terrible drought across the country in 2012, the Bible would say that the land cries out for rain. A lot of people seem to think that water comes from a faucet and that lawn sprinkler systems somehow produce water out of PVC pipes—and they complain when their picnic or soccer game gets rained on. Others know that without rain we’re in trouble—as people in many parts of the world are.

In the rain I also saw God’s Spirit. And I saw that in the midst of busyness, I have too often relied on the equivalent of faucets and PVC pipes for spiritual vitality. I pray and read the Bible, but I want my soul soaked. I’m thirsty for downpour, for the Spirit of God to pour out on me and my church, and on you too.

Isaiah 44:3 parallels the image of rain with the outpouring of God’s Spirit: “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

Ask Him for that Spirit. It’s life-giving.

I must be honest and ask myself, how badly do I want it? How much will I focus my heart on that? What will I sacrifice for it? God does not take lightly the giving of his Spirit. I invite you to be thirsty with me, not for religion but for God himself.

PRAYER: Lord, pour out Your Spirit on me! Forgive me for times I’ve been like Teflon and not received what You would have given me. I thirst for You. Keep me thirsty.”

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’S,’ and will take the name Israel” (Isaiah 44:3–5 NIV).

What’s in the Heart?

By Peter Lundell –

A couple of years ago I said the invocation at a city council meeting. After me came the County Tax Assessor, who told us how well our city’s property values had held up during the recession. As he spoke I wished I were so handsome, could exude such confidence, be so successful, speak with such resonance, and be so debonair.

Then I accepted myself for who I am.

But I still thought it would be nice to be like him.

On the way out we greeted and complimented each other. It felt good.

Then a scandal unfolded during a yearlong investigation. Now this same man has been arrested on charges of conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds, bribery, and perjury. The district attorney describes the case as the biggest corruption scandal involving a county official in decades.

It leaves me in silence.

I had been so impressed with the outside. But what did I not see? What was covered up that I didn’t even think to question? Not that I, or anyone else could have known, but I was speechless at how captivated I’d been by the appearance, while beneath the surface there allegedly thrived darkness and conniving.

Will I learn from this? I hope so.

First Samuel 16:7 stung me: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” After all my Bible knowledge and life experience, I still looked at the outward appearance. How much more my eyes, my mind, my heart need to grow!

And what of my own life? Am I looking at my own appearance? God doesn’t. He looks at my heart.

Every day we’re surrounded by attitudes and advertisements that focus on appearance. Lies. All lies. Let’s be wise and focus on the heart—both our own and others’.

PRAYER: Lord, keep me wise to look at what You look at, beyond appearances and ways humans try to impress. Keep my eyes on the heart—both other people’s and my own.

“When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’S anointed stands here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:6-7 NIV).

Don’t Blast the Bighorn Sheep

By Peter Lundell –

For the first time in my life I saw bighorn sheep. Normally reclusive, a heard of twelve stopped to eat near a roadside. The alpha male kept watch and nudged the rear ends of the others to keep them together. Two sheep pranced up a rock face that must have been 60 degrees. I could hardly believe my eyes.

Cars stopped along the roadside, and people milled about taking photos. A silent awe lingered in our midst. We all knew we were privileged to witness this gift of nature, which could vanish at any moment. Everything any of us had been doing stopped as we took in this blessing.

Suddenly a car horn blasted the holy silence, and we sheep oglers turned in shock and disbelief. A not-so-interested driver maneuvered her car along the road and seemed only to care that everyone else got out of the way. I doubted it was an emergency because she only expressed impatience of one who didn’t want to be bothered—in a national park, hours from anywhere else to go.

The contrast jolted me. How could a person be so oblivious? So self-interested? So willfully disdainful of a rare experience? I did not know.

Then I thought, am I ever that way? I’m often busy, and sometimes I get impatient. And when I am, I may be unaware of what I’m blasting out of my way. I do not like to think that I’m like that lady in the car. But sometimes I am.

God’s hand and things he would show us can be found anywhere and any time. I intend to avoid blasting my horns of impatience. I will avoid hurry, my eyes open, ready to see what God might show me at unexpected moments each day.

I hope you do too.

PRAYER: Lord, sometimes I’m in a hurry. May my heart always be attuned to whatever You have to show me and whenever that may be. My agenda is second; Yours is first. May I never forget.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10, NIV).

Beauty from Water and Sand

By Peter Lundell –

Beauty rises from consistent, mundane effort. I saw this when I had the privilege of hiking “The Narrows” in Zion National Park, perhaps among the world’s greatest hikes. It’s a “slot canyon,” which gets as narrow as 15-20 feet, and in which the swirling walls rise vertically, and even cantilever, to where they are in some places only 10 feet apart. Most of the time the path is the river.

Even in the upper reaches of the canyon, the water is an opaque tan. It looks somewhat ugly and in need of cleaning. But it has always been opaque tan from the sand and dirt washing down.

My shoes were constantly catching sand and small bits of rock. Whenever I cupped my hands in the water, I received a watery sand blast.

This continuous heavy erosion into the river is exactly what made the incredible canyon in the first place. And elsewhere on a larger scale, we get the Grand Canyon. Beauty rises from continuous mundane erosion.

Look at anything in life, whether something you admire or that you yourself have done. Look at a person who has a mature and admirable character, or someone who has accomplished remarkable things. These are like the amazing canyons of the natural world. They happen through relentless consistency and work that may seem painfully mundane. But the result is astonishing beauty or achievement.

Is there an area in your life where you are doing this? I encourage you to keep it up. Do you have the potential—if you did the daily, mundane work—to create a thing of beauty or be a person of more noble character? I believe every one of us does.

PRAYER: Lord, may I learn from the world You have given me to see purpose even in the small things I do, to be patient and never give up in doing what You have called me to do and being who You have created me to be.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:7-9 NIV).

Homeless With or Without a Home

By Peter Lundell –

I spent two and a half days with a group in my church on skid row in Los Angeles (thank you to Pastor Tony who hosted us). If you go there any time day or night, you’ll see hundreds of people on the sidewalks. We served in the missions and walked the streets with Pastor Tony, getting personally acquainted with some of the people. We also got a tour of the rehabilitation efforts going on.

I was astonished to see the clinics, rehab centers, and even a high school for the homeless. Our guide, who had once been on the street himself, told us 99 percent of the people who end up on the street don’t have to stay there. There is help.

The most important efforts are those of rehabilitation. Feeding and sheltering are essential, and serve as the doorways to getting and staying off the streets. Mental illness, addictions, and fierce independence keep many from getting that help.

I thought about all the people who have homes. But they can be spiritually homeless. Outwardly they may look fine, but inwardly they may be lost and hurting, covering up confusion and pain with the nice things money can buy. And just like the physically homeless, they don’t need to stay that way. There is help.

When Jesus walked the earth, He tended to hang out with less-than-reputable people. Religious types didn’t like that. But He told them He came for sinners, for people who need transformation.

If I think about it, and without judging, I suspect there are spiritually homeless people all around us. Are you in any way spiritually homeless? Or do you know someone who is? What difference could you make in that person’s life—or even your own?

PRAYER: Father, in Your arms is my true home. Lead me to turn away from everything that would hinder me from You. I seek you and set my heart on you for both my life that is seen and that is unseen.

“Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress” (Psalm 71:3, NIV).

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