I felt like we were behind where we normally were for tech week, I felt like I hadn't led well enough, and I felt unsure if it would live up to all my expectations.
I've been doing She Reads Truth devos through Lent, but I stopped at the newest study because it was on a topic I didn't find that interesting: Miracles. They're cool and all, but they feel far away, stuck in a time forgotten by the age of science and medicine. While I knew that they could happen today, I typically approached them skeptically, if at all.
And yet, I felt a compelling to read some of the missed days on Wednesday morning. A few things struck me as I looked over the familiar stories from the Gospels: the way that people who experienced the miracles didn't always understand them, the strange rage that the religious leaders expressed when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and how often Jesus responded to faith with healing.
Part of the reason I'm skeptical is because I know it isn't that simple. Lack of healing is not a lack of faith. God's will for us often looks very different than ours. But there was an element of faith that I couldn't ignore.
It reminded me of some songs from Elevation Worship's newest album. There are lyrics like "I've seen you move/ you move the mountains/ and I believe/ I'll see you do it again." There are whole songs about God's blessing coming like the cloud in the Old Testament story that signified rain to the prophet. That song's chorus cries, "We receive your rain!"
So I prayed. About my stress, my doubts, my worries. Asking all the while that God would do not just what I expected, but more and beyond what I could imagine. I felt more peace at that moment, but it wasn't until a few hours later that it really hit me. I was going down the list of requests, praying as I drove to the show. Sound, lights, remembering lines, choreography, and then-- that God would be with them.
It floored me for some reason. God was going to be there. Present. His people would be gathered in His name, and He's promised to be with them. Of course it was going to be okay; the purpose of the whole show would be in the room in His people.
I couldn't dismiss my fear no matter how hard I tried, yet in a moment He replaced it with faith. I felt Him with me there, and I knew He would be with us in every scene, every song.
And He was.
He was there as I watched my kids worship, as I felt the truth of the songs pulsing through my heart, as the Gospel drama gave me goosebumps. And He was there in the invitation. I felt it, so I prayed, "Please, move here. Move in this room. Bring people to life."
And He did.
No, we can't measure things like this in terms of numbers. Success means only presenting the Gospel and letting God do the changing. But I saw God do miracles here, and it fills me with wonder. It fills me with hope because He is a good Father and He does move in wonderful and often unexpected ways.
And it fills me with love for the God who is with us and the people He gives us.
So, looking ahead with open hands, we receive Your rain. Do not what we expect, but what You will.
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