The Rain Dance

Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt…During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully…Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure. Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph…[he] named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." (Genesis 41:46-52)

A few years ago I led an April mission trip to Eagle Pass, TX and into a region where it hadn’t rained for months. Crops had failed. Streams and wells had dried. It was dusty and dirty. When our team of college students arrived the mercury hung in the 90s and flirted with the century mark. No rain was forecast and the clouds were few. We anticipated at long hot week of work.

And so the team prayed for rain--not a gentle spring shower to tempt hope, but a cloud burst of heavy rain to restore, rejuvenate and refill the reservoirs. It seemed crazy, really. Rain was a long shot and months of drought were the norm. Nobody expected it to happen though we hoped in faith that God would show up. Monday proved hot and dry. Tuesday blistered and Wednesday sizzled. The weather forecast seemed stuck on swelter with no possibility of precipitation, but we prayed like Elijah for a miraculous drenching nevertheless.

At our Wednesday night vacation Bible school, the church was packed with Hispanic kids and adults. As we worshipped and studied the Word, the wind began to howl and then a rumble of thunder interrupted the early evening singing. The sky darkened. Then lightning flashed, thunder rolled and large drops of rain pelted the tin roof. Within minutes the months of drought melted away as wave after wave of water pounded the Eagle Pass area. We prayed for rain and God delivered a miracle! Several danced in the mud puddles and everyone praised God for His Favor. And the deluge just kept coming. Not for a few minutes but for several hours solid. From out of nowhere it poured. With no human forecast it delivered. With only the whispered prayers of faithful college kids from Kentucky the downpours came. The cool days of Thursday and Friday capped a great week of mission.

Joseph experienced a similar abundance, except his blessing was with foreknowledge of drought. The grain silos filled to overflowing. The books boasted record achievements. Joseph masterfully diversified the Egyptian stock portfolio. Every city was set for the coming 7-year desolation. God even blessed these years with kids and Joseph insightfully named his boys “forgetfulness” (Manasseh) and “fruitful” (Ephraim). Who could miss the irony there? From Joseph’s seed would come only an abundant memory of goodness and grace. Joseph chose to ponder only upon the positive.

Just like rain has a way of washing away dust and droughts, heat and hard times, God’s grace showers every life with blessing. Sometimes it’s just a gentle spring sprinkling. Sometimes it’s a gully washer. Sometimes it’s a passing thunderstorm. Sometimes its days of welcomed prolonged precipitation.

The question is do you dance in the downpours? Do you boogie in the blessing? Do you name the seeds that sprout "Manny" and "Ephraim"? Don’t pray for rain if you refuse to play in the puddles. Don’t seek a drenching if it'll never drown your desperate past.

You see, life is watered (and wasted) by the memories we hoard. What is remembered will moisten current circumstances and flood future choices. It’s why the wise remember nothing but good, pursue nothing but hope and choose nothing but love.

Joseph had learned to store more than just grain. He discovered the value of stashing away positive memories for when desperate days came calling again.

Now that’s something worth remembering.


NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON MEMORIES:

You never know when you're making a memory. (Rickie Lee Jones)

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it. (Michel de Montaigne)

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. (From the television show The Wonder Years)

Every man's memory is his private literature. (Aldous Huxley)

God gave us memories that we might have roses in December. (J.M. Barrie)

Father, it’s far too easy for me to remember the bad more than the good. My mind can become a desert filled with dry times, hurts, losses, crises and pain. Forgive me when I forget the blessings in those storms that define my life. Help me in every moment to find goodness and grace, hope and healing. Amen.