As many of you who listen to the Worship Ministry Catalyst Podcast know, I live in the Pacific Northwest – an area known for being wet. What you may not know is that we often have a couple of very dry months. Typically we will have most of July and August, as well as the first part of September where there is little to no rain. This year was no exception. In fact it was exceptional in this way, we have over 100 days of no rain. The longest dry stretch in recorded history.

But this past Friday, the record breaking stretch ended. It even ended with a record breaking day. On that Friday we set a record for recorded rainfall on that specific date.

I’m one of those people who actually likes the rain. I’m “warm-blooded” and don’t like being too warm. I’d much rather be too cold than too warm. When it’s cool there are things you can do that are effective at warming you up. When it’s hot, and you don’t have air conditioning, there’s not a lot you can do to cool down.

But this year in particular, the rain was a tremendous blessing. It seems that there is construction going on everywhere we go, and it has been going on all summer. Everything was coated in a layer of dirt and grime.

But then the rain came. Yes the construction is still going on, but the dirt is gone. And sure there will be another layer of dirt, but it will get washed away too. But eventually the construction will be done, the dust will be gone and life will go back to normal.

Here’s my point to this seemingly pointless post about rain, weather and construction. No matter what is going on in your life, the rain is coming. Sure there are droughts, there are times when it seems like you’ll never get through. But even in the Atacama desert in Chile, where they only average 1.5cm of rainfall per year, and they went 400 years without rain, the rain still came. It even rains in the desert.

Life is dirty, and it seems we’re always going through some sort of construction. It seems there are constant obstacles getting in our way, and detours we have to take. It seems like the construction should have been done forever ago. And instead of an improved road, we simply have detours and layers of dirt piling up.

But, construction does finish. And just like the roads we drive, when construction on who we are finishes, we have a better way of navigating through life. When we wash away the dirt, we discover that the revisions to who we were prepare us for who we will become. And without the construction, we would drive the same roads, go over the same pot-holes and never imagine  life could be better than it is right now.

My encouragement for you today is, that the rain will come. You may be in a period of construction, and all you can see is the dirt, but the day will come when the dirt is washed away and all you see is new path in front of you. You hay have to take a detour for a while, it may seem out of the way and inconvenient, but a new path is being built.

Ps 16:11 – “You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Rev. 21:4-5: “4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”