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Friday, 16 September 2016

Winter Holidays - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 16, 2016



When I was small, during the cold freezing winter holidays in Darjeeling, we would sojourn to a sunny warm golden place.

In those days, tall fir trees towered over red-roofed cottages scattered all over the school campus that we lived in.  In that forested huge campus, house burglaries were common during the winter months.  The campus was deserted and lonely in the winter months.  Everyone traveled to a warm place or their hometowns for the long cold season.

I remember one scary night, our neighbor had a burglar visit her home while she was in the house and he even pushed her down roughly and ran out of the house!  Thank God he did not do worse!  She rushed out of her cottage shouting loudly and came to our home that night for dinner while she relayed the horror of the event.

We had some valuables in our home.  Each holiday, I would come back to our cottage with a fearful anticipation that we would be robbed.  Nearly every winter holiday, we would hear tales of house robberies.  The thieves were never caught.  The thought that they were lurking around watching us was eerie, they were unknown, unrecognized, but watching us…

When I was ten years old, one day when we were back from the winter holidays, I asked my mom why she was not afraid of a robbery and she answered calmly and confidently, "I pray for the safety of our home and our travel, and we are always safe and our home will never get robbed."

At that time, I wondered why God would protect our home and possessions.  Why would He care for something material?  I could understand Him protecting us, but why possessions?

Mysteriously, our cottage was never touched.  It slowly dawned on me that when we turn to God for everything, He literally takes up our case and protects us all the way…to our belongings and possessions and of course us.

Entrusting ourselves and our possessions to the Lord is the safest place we can put ourselves and our belongings.  While we do not idolize our belongings, when we pray, our belongings are safe, our family is safe, and our children are safe.  There is safety in Christ.

True, there are those dear people who have suffered terrible losses and those are the secrets of God we will never know, but in my personal experience, when we entrust things to Jesus, He really takes us into His strong tower, securing and sealing our lives with His safety.

One day, some time ago, I came across a verse in the Bible "Ezra 8:21 "There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions." 

"Wow!"  I thought when I saw that verse "God protects our travel, our journeys and our possessions!"  The secret here is that we need to look to Him for Him to do that.  If we never pray about these things, they are uncovered.  Here, the potent truth is that they fasted and asked God!  They did not take His protection for granted.

Psalm 5:11 
 11 But let all who take refuge in You be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread Your protection over them,

    that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.




Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.
Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

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