How amazing is it to hear the sound of rain on the roof? When I hear the rain, I always get the feeling of renewal, of starting afresh, and above all, I know that every drop is a blessing from the Lord.
Whilst standing at the window, looking at the raindrops falling on the ground, I could see how thirsty the ground is, as the drops actually just disappears, however before long, as the rain continues, the soil stops absorbing the raindrops and small puddles start to form all over in the garden. As the rain continues to fall, the puddles grow larger and even join to form larger puddles, pretty soon small rivulets start to form and true to its nature, the water follows the path of least resistance and flows into the street.
Walking outside I can see that the rivulets have met up with other rivulets flowing from the respective yards from my neighbours and their neighbours to form rather strong flowing streams in the road. As more rivulets join streams, the streams get bigger and streams join to form small rivers that can, if the rain does not abate, may start posing danger to low lying areas. These rivers will then flow into dams, and as the dams reaches their capacities, the sluices will be opened, and the water set on their way to the sea.
Whilst standing there watching the rain fall and the water flowing, I realized that this is the way it should be for us as Christians as well. We have to influence the area in which we live, commute and work by living according to the Word of God and by doing good deeds. This is similar to the raindrops falling on the ground, first it is just soaked up. In the same way our Christian lives and deeds doesn’t seem to have an effect where we are, but just as the soil got saturated with the continuous rainfall, the environment, those people around us, will also become saturated with our good deeds and manner in which we live our Christian lives.
Once saturated they will want to exhibit the same type of lifestyle, causing the puddle, Christianity, to spread and to overflow into the next area. Starting rivulets of spreading the Word of God throughout the country, it sometimes may feel that there is a holdup, but it may only be a dam, and as the flow of the Word continues the dam will fill and sluices will open to allow the Word to be spread further.
We as Christians have to live our lives in such a way that we have a Christian influence in our families which will overflow to our neighbours, our workplaces and in the areas where we commute. This is how rivulets of Christianity will start flowing in our communities and eventually in our suburbs and cities. The Lord say in Isaiah 43:19 (NIV): “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
I pray that each and everyone of us will be part in the new thing that the Lord is talking about, that we can be part of the way He is making in using us, His children, to start rivulets of spreading His Word in the world.
Doric Swart