Rescue Iraq

Speaking of Leviticus

Perhaps, in your entire life, this phrase will never be heard: "Speaking of Leviticus." Like who wants to dredge up a book of the Bible like Leviticus? How many have really read it, or seriously studied it? Yet, I propose that it is one of the most important books of the Bible. Why? You may ask.

Let me backtrack a bit.

This morning as I opened my Bible I realized I was a bit behind in my scheduled Bible reading. Two days behind actually, which meant I had 30 chapters to read, and lucky me, Leviticus, chapter 1 was my starting point.

Now, I know there must be some folks out there that have dared to part the pages of this Levitical tome, but how many have actually read it straight through in one sitting? I mean, it almost sounds like some torture thought up by a Bible Professor for his incoming Freshman class.

I mean, I don't know anyone that would find themselves locked in some Bible debate, then bring up a finer point of the book by saying, "speaking of Leviticus..." I mean, will that ever happen?

Journey with me for a moment if you will into this legalistic of all books for there are some insights waiting to be discovered if we'll simply take the time.

What is the essence of the book? LAW

Of course, this the main reason most people don't find it applicable in today's era of GRACE.

But, let's break it down a little bit more, here real quick:

• Laws of Acceptable Approach to God - namely how to properly sacrifice to God
• Priestly Laws - how they are to be properly anointed and set apart for God's service
• Laws Regarding Purity - how the people ought to keep themselves holy and clean
• Laws Regarding National Santification - how to properly appear before the Lord on the Day of Atonement... and on and on and on...

You could read them yourself, but you probably don't want to.

But, let me give you a reason to look at Leviticus in a more favorable light.

This one book, more than any of the other books of the Torah, and for that matter the whole Old Testament, must have been the daily musings of who? The Priests, right, for something like 1,500 years and beyond.

It holds the keys to the very definition of Judaism, and sets the Jews apart from every other nation on earth. And up until the time of Christ, this book contained the very "plan of salvation" if you will of every person on earth. For to become a part of the fellowship of God prior to Christ, one must first become a Jew. Is that not right? [Living like them at the very least.] Here it all is in all of it's legal stipulations.

But, you are quick to say, "we have died to the law with all of it's stipulations," and all I can say is a glorious, "Hallelujah!"

Have you ever stopped to consider this verse in Jeremiah, "... I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah... I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

Reading the book of Leviticus this morning made me so overjoyed to know that this book of strident laws with alarming consequences, is now one of heart felt knowledge with God's abundant grace covering all who comes to Him.

Looking back to the centuries and centuries before Christ, have you ever wondered about the number of sacrifices that occurred on a daily basis merely to atone for those people who sinned unintentionally? It must have been staggering. How could someone keep all of those laws, let alone remember them all?

And the results for trangressing those laws are vividly portrayed in the slaying of two of Aaron's sons for bringing improper fire and incense before the Lord. Do you see the stringentness of these commands? That even the High Priest's sons are instantly declared defiled before the Lord and put to death.

The Law came with such terrible fear that honestly was God's intention, "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'" (Exodus 20:20) 

Do we really realize what Jesus has saved us from?

Reading some more in Leviticus, we find what is imperitave to the entire Biblical narrative in chapter 17, "It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible." (NLT)

How in the world does the Bible make sense without this concept being implicitly and properly defined? And where else in the Bible do we find it? In Hebrews we find that, "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness," barely a mention, but oh, so important.

Then, at the end of Leviticus we find the "blessings for obedience" and the "punishments for disobedience". Two thousand years and one great act on the Cross, separate us from a life with these blessings and curses just hanging over our heads.

That's why we see Peter, in the book of Acts declaring before the assembly of leaders of the church in Jerusalem, "why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?" (15:10)

There is only one possible outcome from trying to obey the laws stipulated in the book of Leviticus, an abject feeling of failure, separation from God, without hope from ever being redeemed. Which is precisely the position God brings us to before He shows us Christ.

I contend that without this feeling of failure and complete helplessness before a righteous and holy God, one cannot properly declare Jesus Christ his Savior.

What need have we of a savior, if our lives are o.k., salvagable by some ingenious work of self-help or internal guidance or luck?

One cannot properly understand the Gospel, and the reason for Christ's death without first understanding the Law that points it's accusing finger at our lives. And it is in the book of Leviticus that this is declared more than anywhere else with such finality and immoveable truth.

So, pick up your Bible again and peel apart the pages between the books of Exodus and Numbers. See the Law in a new light.

Where it was previously believed and emphatically true that "salvation is found in no one else, for there is no name under Heaven given to men, by which we must be saved, the name of the High Priest of God's Temple," today, now rings with a different tone that we are more familiar with that personalizes the High Priest in the very Son of God, who became for you and for me, the ultimate sacrifice -- attested to by the very hand of God tearing in two the dividing wall in the temple forevermore, and in that act putting to death the rules taught and enforced by the High Priest, opening a new era where the very laws of God are now written on man's hearts.

Without Christ, Leviticus would be our "4 spiritual laws", reminding us constantly of the heavy weight of sin, the falleness of man, and the righteousness and holiness of our God.

Keeping the Law would be our constant fear as the perennial "bad news" that would supposedly help keep us from sinning.

Still, it is the faithful and true word of God, AND praised be to God that He has opened up for us a new way, a new path where righteousness from God is obtained by faith, which is emphatically foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to Jews but for us it is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

Can you see how this book ought to evoke in us the deepest sense of gratitude, thankfulness, and indebtedness to God's perfect plan of salvation through the shedding of His own's son's blood?

Do you need a pick me up today? Then, read Leviticus and be absorbed into all from which God has set you free -- "canceling the written code against you", and take a cue from King David, "Your laws have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You."

Amazing to see isn't it how desperately the book of Leviticus is so fundamental to our faith.

"He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2:13b-15

Let the Nations Tremble!

Just in the past week, the news has declared of earthquakes, nuclear weapons, invasions, subversive paramilitary forces, bombings, attacks, retreats, protests, and killings all within a few hundred miles of us, in some cases just over the next mountain range.

But, more than three weeks back as I was waiting on the Lord, I felt Him speak to my spirit:

"My son there are difficulties yet ahead, but I will be with you, and give you peace. Look not to the right or to the left, focus your attention on Me. You have but 3 months remaining in this year -- world events will terrify you, but hold firm and remember I am your rock upon which you stand. Pursue Me, love me, find me through your faithful devotion to My word. Speak with Me, walk with Me, and you will live -- Fear not for I am with you. Do not give up hope!"

And now, as world events are quite terrifying for one living in this place God has called us to, I feel forced to recall His words and press in like never before.

Reading the Bible this morning I was reminded of who ought to tremble in this world. Psalm 99 boldly declares, "The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble."

When everything around us seems to be falling apart, when even the ground beneath our feet becomes untrustworthy, there is still no need to tremble. God is on His throne!

He has declared that He has given us of His Spirit, that same Spirit that has nothing to do with timidity, but everything to do with Power, Love, and a Sound Mind. This is the reality.

That we are seated with Christ in the Heavenlies and no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

Yes, we declare with the Psalmist, "Let the nations tremble" our souls are at peace!

Thanks for praying for us in these days especially as I believe the outward display of events (at least as the media report it) is only going to get worse.

But, know that no matter what the media declares or how dismal the outlook, God is still on His throne, actively involved in the affairs of men, and using every circumstance, no matter how terrible, for His glory.

There's a God side of the story that rarely gets read. I hope that through our work here, you come to see and have already seen that even in the "valley of the shadow of death" He still works miracles, He still brings salvation, and He still reigns on high!

It does not mean that hardships won't come, but that we never have need to tremble -- that's for the nations to do. Stand with us as we seek to bring peace, to share His light and His truth, and to stand up for the rights of the oppressed, in a land so raked with war and division -- the very intersection point of Turks, Kurds, and Iranians here in Northern Iraq.

David Wilkerson: May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011

Yesterday, America and the world lost one of God's great men. I've been impacted by Pastor Wilkerson's ministry throughout my life as a believer, first with his famous book, The Cross and the Switchblade, and in more recent years by this riveting and convicting message entitled, "A Call to Anguish".

I hope that you will take a moment and listen to this 7 minute message in honor of his memory:

His church, Times Square Church, founded in 1987, has recently embraced us and our ministry stepping up to be the first of the 12 churches to pray, fund, and go with our work with widows and orphans in Northern Iraq.

Though his life on this earth is over, his legacy lives on to help the disadvantaged here and abroad. We are so grateful to God to have lived in the shadow of this great "oak of righteousness" -- may many more take courage from his example and lead on.

The Vicar of Baghdad

I met the "Vicar of Baghdad" two years ago while attending a conference on orphans in Baghdad.

 
I was immediately struck by his personality and his stories, one of which I'll never forget as he was being introduced to one of the leading Muslim clerics in Baghdad he asked in a booming sing song, almost fatherly kind of voice "Are you a terrorist?"

It's that kind of boldness that has probably kept him alive as over 200 of his congregation have been killed off during the past two years alone.

His story is told in a recent book just released called, Faith Under Fire. An appropriate title for his work amongst the poorest of the poor in the hotbed of religious strife and violence that we have come to know and expect from Baghdad.

Recently, the Vicar, more commonly known as Canon Andrew White, traveled to California where he found something that perhaps is best left for him to reveal.

Listen to this profoundly stirring account of the Vicar's testimonies of the amazing things that God is doing in Iraq, and what He found at Bethel Church in Redding, California.

http://podcasts.ibethel.org/system/large_files/8/original/Vicar_Of_Baghdad_032711_0830_96Kbps.mp3?1301345891

You won't be disappointed.

"Why do you cry to Me? I'm blowing back the sea!"

I was reading in Exodus this morning about when the Hebrews, a million strong, were locked in by the mountains, pushed to the edge of the shore of the Red Sea, while crying out to Moses saying, "Didn't we tell you life was better back in Egypt serving the Pharaoh? Is it because there were no graves at home that you brought us out here to be slaughtered?"

Have you ever found yourself asking the question, "Lord, life was just fine... why did you have to show up and lead me out of my "comfortable" surroundings?" "Why did you recruit me to do something that is beyond my abilities?" "Wasn't life better back when..."

In my journal this morning, I began like this, but quickly realized that my life has never been "fine". Long ago, God grabbed me, put His Spirit inside me, and said, "Where I tell you to go, you will go, and what I tell you to say, you will say..." That was January 12, 1997. Before that time, I was a Christian sure enough. You might even say I was a man "on a mission". The only problem was I was on my "own" mission.

I've heard it said that if the goal you are seeking can be accomplished in this lifetime, than it is too small.

If the vision you are following can be accomplished in your own strength you have no need for God.

Yes, the Lord calls us to do things that give HIM the glory, but in order to do that, He calls us to do things that we simply cannot do in and of ourselves. It's a burden really, to look up and see sometimes what God has called me to. I know I cannot accomplish it without Him, and so, I constantly lean on His strength. If the vision were doable, I know I'd take the glory -- it would only be natural to do so.

So, God calls me to move mountains, and not to just to do that but to cast them into the sea.

Sometimes I feel like those ancient Hebrews cuddling close to one another on the edge of the water as my enemies, incensed by the death of their first borns come pouring down the mountains to quench their thirst for bloody revenge. It's a graphic scene that. You can't blame the Hebrews for trembling.

Moses trembled too, but God was there. He cut Moses off midsentence with the curt reply, "Why do you cry to Me?" Thank God that wasn't all He said. Can you imagine hearing those words from the very lips of God? "Why cry to Me?"

Fortunately that wasn't all He said, He followed it up with a bit of humor and a smirk saying, "Tell the children of Israel to go forward."

"Forward, Lord?" I can just see Moses' eyes widening. "That's like the Red Sea there Mr. God. What are we gonna do, build some boats and start swimming?"

What a tense moment; words fail to describe it.

The Hebrews have just caused the complete destruction of the land, killed all the first born, and taken all the wealth of Egypt (the Bible says the Hebrews "plundered the Egyptians."). Now, they were sitting ducks on the shore of the sea, when everyone knew and could have told Moses, "Hey, big leader guy, we're going the wrong way, that's a dead end. This is like a peninsula. You know those land masses that are surrounded by water on three sides. Where are we going? Why are we going this way?"

It wasn't long before this that Moses was trekking across the desert from the land of Midian with a 'new' staff in his hand, now his short lived career as "Deliverer" was about to come to an end.

But wait a minute what's this?

Moses looks down at his rod -- the sign of God's authority in His life -- and hears the words, "...lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea."

"...and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided."

Yea, God was right to cut Moses off, to stop him in his complaint, just like He's right to silence my complaining mouth. I have NO idea what He's doing. Just when I think hell's hoards are about to consume me, He's blowing back the Sea, and setting a trap for my enemies they'll never forget.

Thanks, God, for calling me. Sometimes it's hard, but I love you. I wouldn't want to serve anyone but You.

Rumblings in Kurdistan

Over the past 2 1/2 years that we've been laboring throughout Northern Iraq, the sounds of a faint rumbling noise has caught our ears. It is the sound of coming Revival.

Just across the border in Iran an oppressive regime is inadvertantly turning hundreds of thousands of Iranians to Jesus, many of which live in what is known as Kurdistan.

They are even coming across the border into Iraq with tales of dreams and visions of our Lord Jesus Christ, an underground church totaling 1 million souls, and the expectation that revival is on the verge of transforming the surrounding nations into the greatest spiritual harvest this region has ever seen.

Back in America, I share these tales to many a listening ear but few actually really believe it.

I feel like "the Prophet of Spindletop" saying, "Hey! There's oil down there, I just know it!"

We've labored now for well over 8 years in the Middle East and seen basically, very little fruit. We've seen areas that are open to the gospel but mostly areas that seem years and years away from revival. But, no area of the Middle East has struck me as so "ready" than Iraqi-Kurdistan.

Here's a situation where the government is all but openly encouraging the dissemination of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, allowing Kurds to meet together to pray, to form churches, even showing up at the meetings themselves and thanking them for their commitment to God and to the Kurdish people. The government is even offering venues for free for Christians to meet to celebrate Christian holidays.

We are literally sitting on a spiritual Spindletop, and just like Spindletop the "experts" have long ago dismissed our area as unproductive and put their money elsewhere.

But, that's beginning to change... some are catching on to the investment opportunities there and are not letting go.

The Prophet of Spindletop, Part 1

On January 10, 1901, a drill broke into the furtherest reaches of the Luann Salt evaporite layer in Beaumont, Texas, setting  off the largest gusher the world had ever seen. At a force of 100,000 barrels a day, it took nine days before being brought under control.

This discovery propelled the United States into the leading oil producer in the world and effectively broke John D. Rockefeller's world-wide monopoly.

It's hard to think of the United States as the leading oil producer in the world, but that's what we were over a hundred years ago.

What I find even more intriguing are the lives wrapped up in this discovery.

The man who drilled when leading geologists of his day were dissmissing the Gulf Coast as the last place to find oil was Patillo Higgins, later nicknamed, "The Prophet of Spindletop".

Higgins was trained as a gunsmith, worked as a lumberman, speculated in real estate and finally settled on developing a brick manufactoring plant. As he began to hunt for fuel to run his plants, he ventured up to Pennsylvannia to study every U.S. Geological Survey he could get his hands on.

What he quickly realized was that according to the USGS oil was always found in areas where salt domes formed.

Remembering his youthful days in Beaumont, Texas, he theorized that oil must be there and set to work.

Why is it so hard to care for the orphan?

Recently, I went to the The Idea Camp in NW, Arkansas to discuss how we can better serve orphans throughout our world. The first speaker was a man named Tom Davis who shared a stirring message about the numbing mechanisms we use to shield our hearts from the real issues of our world today. This quote got me: "... the whole plan is that we stay so busy that the truths of our lives cannot catch up to us."

Check it out:

IC ORPHAN - Children's HopeChest from The Idea Camp on Vimeo.

A Raining Narrative, part 2

We've had some interesting developments as of late. But, before I get into those I wanted to try to answer some of the questions that I posed in a prior posting, namely: what are we supposed to learn from these 'rain' stories?

The other day I awoke to this phrase literally blaring in my head, "without faith it is impossible to please God!!!" This is obviously, a quick, simple answer to the previous stories told about praying for rain.

However, I found it a bit odd when a few months ago I began to pray for rain, yet felt no faith for it at all. After a while, I stopped praying for rain concluding that God wasn't really in that. A little like Elijah, except that I wasn't actually praying that it wouldn't rain, I just couldn't feel God's presence or peace in my prayers when I did pray for rain.

I found it so odd, actually, in light of the recent drought, and I began to wonder, "Would God set up an encounter somehow, where we could pray for rain at a certain time in the future, and see God show up to answer that prayer? Giving Him the glory and perhaps persuading a few of the power of the God we serve and Jesus Christ His son?"

Well, I maintained those thoughts for a time, until just a few days ago. Yea, it started raining and raining hard. Just 3 days before we were heading back to the States, the floodgates opened and the rain fell. Interestingly enough, the Friday prayers of the Muslim faithful were blaring in the streets that day on the loud speakers expecting God to show up and bring the rains. Just hours later it began.

It barely stopped raining over the next 2 days, the temperature dropped dramatically, and we quickly learned what steps needed to take place to keep our home properly winterized before we left. I am so glad it did rain, because there were many little things that we needed to do before leaving our house that we would have surely forgotten or not known about had it not rained.

This scenario makes me think a bit of Paul’s confrontation with the people of Lystra in Acts 14, when he declares, “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, He let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their season; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

God's mercy is so abundant. Hallelujah!

It also reminds me of the times in my life when I wasn't walking with God as I should. Times when I shouldn't have expected even the smallest grain of grace or blessing in my life, yet it came anyway. And invariably, because the Spirit of God resided in my heart, it melted me.

"Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!" Psalm 66:20

Now, there is an issue that should concern us. The Muslim Mullahs where all crying out for rain. God delivered, so now where does that place their followers? It's almost as if the prophets of Baal actually succeeded in their prayers -- isn't that a twist on Mt. Carmel -- where is God's glory in this story???!!!

Well, it makes me wonder if at times God allows us to think we're right just because His mercy is so great. His love is so overwhelming, and His care for us so incredible that He often chooses to bless us anyway, even when we think that it is because of our own righteousness or 'rightness' that we should be blessed.

It does make things confusing. The wicked prosper and the righteous go without. Wouldn't it be easier if God just gave rain to "just" nations and withheld indefinitely from those "unjust" nations? Then, it would be so easy to see who was right and who was wrong.

Why did the Muslims get all the oil? Why did the Christians get all the trees and grass and fresh water? One might ask.

But, this has more to do with just the land beneath our feet. What comes from the sky is invariably different. The rains don't fall without some design, without some influence from somewhere, something. And, if it's consistent and doesn't flood our lands, then God must be benevolent towards us, support us, and our beliefs. If it's not consistent. If we have to beg every year for the rains to come, and sometimes when it does come it floods our lands irreparably, then perhaps God doesn't love us so much or think that we're right.

In short, if things are good, why consider life's end? If things are bad, introspection is the natural result.

This is the mind of sinful man. When all is well, it must be because I'm following the right path, and if another is having a hard time, then it must in some measure be his or her's own darn fault. Oh, how compassionate we are.

Praise God that He is not like us! ... I think.

He disciplines those He loves and extends kindness even to the severe. He lets us live in a state of bliss without suspecting we're missing a thing, while chastising the righteous with a higher standard than is earthly conceivable. He sacrifices those things most precious to Him, and let's the wicked run away with extravagance and wealth without measure. What kind of God is this?

A truer word could hardly be spoken than this, that "the LORD does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7b

The story gets even more complex knowing that a good friend of mine was praying specifically that it wouldn't rain in Iraq, so that this situation would be avoided: where rain would come in response to the prayers of the Muslim faithful and just entrench them even deeper into their own belief systems.

Rain. In some ways, rain stands for the arbitrary blessing of God upon this earth, only we often don't think it arbitrary at all. It must signify something!

If it rains on my birthday party, it's one thing, but if it rains during the spring and summer it means something totally different. The problem is everyone has a different birthday!!!

How can we theologically equate rain with God's blessings and a lack of rain without it? We do, though. Honestly, I don't know how we can't in some measure. The problem again surfaces, if God's blessings come through rain, then He is blessing the good and the bad simultaneously. Why does something about this so grate against my soul? Shouldn't He just be in charge of blessing the good and judging the bad?

In the midst of this question, Paul's comments to the Romans must be considered, "What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews (good people) and Gentiles (bad people) alike are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is no one righteousness, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.' ... Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.' There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:9-18

Watching God's blessings fall from the sky in the form of rain or in any other way, tends to make us jealous of other's windfall or depressed because of our lack, but if we continue in this way we will surely be misguided in our understanding of our Heavenly Father.

There is a better path... the path of knowing the character of our God regardless of our earthly circumstances, regardless of our 'answered' or 'unanswered' prayers... it's not the easy one... it requires FAITH -- and without that, it is impossible to please God!

A Raining Narrative, part 1

For the past 7 months, we have had only 2 real days of rain here in Soran. The situation is proving dire. Everyone is talking about the lack of rain as their eyes gaze heavenward exclaiming, “Where is the snow on the mountains? It has all melted away!”

Without rain and snow this winter our mountain valley town of 120,000 will be in peril. Precipitation is the talk of the day right now. So much so, that just a few days ago a prayer meeting of the Muslim faithful was called to gather on a hill overlooking our barren land.

Some 5,000 men came to cry out to Allah for deliverance. It was a stunning spectacle.

My thoughts turned to the voice of the prophet crying out, “There shall be no rain over the next few years except at MY word,” declared Elijah to Ahad king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Talk about becoming a stench in the nostrils of the King. Elijah quickly became public enemy number one to everyone living in the land. But why would God give such authority to man? More importantly, why would God bring such harm to the land and the people?

God was setting the stage for one of the most incredible public confrontations between the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Baal, the god of the Canaanites that had corrupted the Israelite people.

In a scene of dramatic proportions three and half years later, Elijah stepped out of hiding and entered Ahab’s throne room declaring, “I have not made trouble for Israel… But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

And we all know the rest of the story.

When we lived in Rockwall, Texas between the years 2006-2008, we entered an environment on the brink of a complete water failure as the main reservoir of the city began to dry to the bone.

A Level 3 water conservation code was issued in the heat of the summer as we watched our green lawns turn yellow and the clay soil become cracked and hard.

Immediately, we began to set our faces to pray to the living God asking for deliverance while the local television station continued day after day to show the quickly drying water reservoir at historic lows. It honestly, no longer even looked like a lake.

As conditions worsened the Mayor Rockwall called for a day of prayer and publically asked for God’s intervention. The very next day it rained. But, it was only a drop in the bucket.

The months poured on while the shortages only escalated. It was becoming the talk of Rockwall, and continually I felt the Spirit’s leading to pray, to cry out, and to ask for rain.

A live camera was placed on the shore of the lake and posted on the City website continually reminding people of the desperate need. The pictures soon just showed a ‘sea’ of mud, with the water pooling in the center hardly even visible.

All through the winter of 2006-2007, we were praying and expecting God to deliver our town from the drought. I found myself praying things like, “Lord, just change the climate completely around here and rain down a flood!”

As winter wore into spring, still the heavens had not let down their rain, and the city council convened debating whether to move to Code Level 4 (Code Red situation) which would have shut down all car washes, forbade any watering of lawns whatsoever, and added steeper penalties to already high fines for noncompliance. It was serious.

I remember the City Council asking lcoal residents to turn in their neighbors if they were seen watering their lawn on the wrong day or at the wrong time providing a special “hotline” one could call for just that purpose.

There were reports of 30 year old wells just drying up, decades old trees where dying, and newly laid foundations splitting in two as the dry clay gave up it’s moisture.

Some residents were getting multiple fines and even getting their water service turned off. Special “water police” trucks began roaming the streets ready to dish out the severest penalty for anyone not abiding by the councils’ ruling.

Meanwhile, during this whole time I still felt the Lord’s presence encouraging me to continue in prayer and as I did so, my hope rose. I began to believe and to actually “see” the rains coming in my mind’s eye. I came to believe that it wouldn’t be long before God quenched the land of its thirst.

At the beginning of April when the drought had persisted for nearly 2 and a half years, a meteorologist publicly declared that it would take 10 years for the reservoir to return to pre-drought levels. 10 years! Boy, was it time for a miracle – time for God to show up!

There were so many folks involved and praying for rain became a topic even mentioned from the pulpit. The scientists had given up, and in the midst of this hopelessness God began to push back the sands of time.

As April days were ending, droplets of life began falling from the sky and pounding into the dry earth. In May it was reported that there were more days with rain than without. The unprecedented amount of rainfall in Rockwall filled the reservoirs rapidly. By the end of June, folks began to regret their prayers so abundant was the downfall (baseball leagues were completely disrupted as I recall), meanwhile the reservoir miraculously pushed above the pre-drought levels.

What was declared could not happen in over 10 years, took God’s graceful hand just 2 and a half months.

The people tired of rain by the end of June and then, it was just as easy to hear complaints of the overabundance of heaven’s gift. It was almost as if the climate shifted in our little corner of the globe and the ground produced a stunning harvest that year!

It was an amazing thing to be a part of, to see God’s hand so sovereignly come to the aid of his people and in answer to their prayers and crys for help.

God does answer prayers and even in the most dire of circumstances, actually usually in the most dire of circumstances. He steps into the scene with dramatic flare and brings deliverance again and again. He’s our hero God, and He can do it anywhere and at anytime.

But, who’s to say when we are to pray for rain, and when we are to pray for the rains to stop? What are we supposed to learn from these stories of faith?