"Shower"

Just a little circle,

Not too far to go,

With a cloud out in the distance,

And not much threat to show.

But on the far side of the circle,

The wind began to blow,

And pretty soon the rain came,

No slicker for the flow.

I’ve got a real good slicker,

Fact is I have three,

A poncho and an oilskin,

And a fish coat just for me.

But I had ne’er one with me,

And I really didn’t care,

‘Cause it was just a summer rain,

Was glad just to be there.

And with the rain a-pourin’,

And drippin’ off my hat,

I felt a sudden thankfulness,

For sending all of that.

A drink for all God’s creatures,

To wash the world all clean,

The freshness and aroma,

To water and make green.

And then I had a flashback,

Of childhood in the pew,

A hymn beside my Daddy,

To God who makes things new.

We sang about showers of blessing,

And the promise of His love,

Sang about seasons refreshing,

Sent from the Savior above.

Showers of blessing,

Showers of blessing we need,

Mercy drops round us are falling,

But for the showers we plead.

We rode on through the shower,

And the rain came to a stop,

And soon my ride was over,

But I would never swap,

The blessing of an outpour,

The gift of sun and rain,

The moment when God’s goodness,

Fills our hearts again.

“He has showered His kindness on us…” (Eph. 1:8, NLT)

If you’ve become aware of God’s kindness it can take you off guard, like being caught in a rain shower. The fact that He is kind is one of my favorite things about Him. Kind, not mean. Kind, not impatient. Kind, not harsh and demanding. I love His kindness. If we understood it better, and how much our hearts long for it, we would run to Him rather than away. We would also be more apt to pass His kindness on to others, whether we thought they deserved it or not. Because, after all, who deserves to be loved this way? But it’s never been about what we deserve, but always about how wonderful He is. And that’s very good news, especially if you’ve been banged up a bit by what others have done and said. His kindness has a very refreshing, healing, cleansing effect on us. That’s why it’s called a shower.

Lord, shower us with kindness and help us to pass it along, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tim Cox, timcox.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tim, and God bless you.