rain and the ugly truth

It rained today in Arizona. Rain, to me, used to mean a regrettable lack of sunshine, but oh how perspectives change when landscapes do. Now, living in the middle of the desert, I will stop whatever I’m doing to be quiet and listen to rain. I watch it dance on my windshield in an unrehearsed frenzy and take in deep breaths of its refreshing smell. Rain in the desert smells better than rain anywhere else because you can sense just how quenched the earth was before it fell. Desert rain is so cherished, so invigorating and so needed. It washes away the old with one, fluid swoop, and brings scents of promise and renewal. Dry land becomes moist, parched plants- vibrant, wiper blades- used! All in an effort to wash away what’s no longer needed.

Have you ever noticed how God can use creation to speak a truth into your life even more profoundly? Whether that’s with rainbows, mustard seeds, or rain, I love how God can reveal himself in everyday experiences. He knew that I needed to be washed of something weighty in my life. Something hard to comes to grips with. Something painfully true. This rain today felt even more for me than it was for you. So even though I hope you enjoyed it, I felt like God sent the rain for my benefit. (Apparently pride will be my next issue he works on.)

The ugly truth is… I care entirely too much of what you think of me. You, my friends, even complete strangers… I care. A lot. And the constant pursuit of perception, approval, and pleasing is a treadmill. It’s hard work. I sweat through it and feel like I’m gaining ground and then I step off to find myself exactly where I started.  This got me to thinking about what God would have to say about the treadmill of the world’s approval. I think it might sound something like this:

If you spent half of the time with ME that you spend washing, waxing, comparing, applying, re-applying, plucking, exfoliating, trying on, taking off, conditioning, analyzing, brushing, admiring, criticizing, manicuring, obsessing, questioning, and worrying about YOU- you would begin to feel less and less bondage and more and more freedom.

If I spent HALF the amount of time, I may begin to glimpse what liberating, God-centered living truly is. I may open my eyes to the fact that there was purpose in every inch of how I was created. I may forfeit the lies that others’ approval matters more than my creator’s. I may begin to look at people as the uniquely, perfected handiwork they are instead of perceiving in constant judgment. I may learn to quiet the made up thoughts I think others think in order to make room for the thoughts of my God. And I may even discover how to replace a life of temporary happiness with THE life founded in immovable joy.

So maybe you can relate. Maybe you’re tired of running on this treadmill. Maybe the rain actually was for you today too. One thing I know for sure is that this trap of perception-driving, people-pleasing, approval-addict living is normal. It’s sad, but it's true. It’s so natural of a response that we often fail to notice. And even though the treadmill speeds seem to be increasing and the desert has never been dryer… I’m choosing today to step off the endlessly worthless track and go dance- worshiping the one who brought the rain- without caring AT ALL if you approve or not. 

Galations 1:10 says

“Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of God.”