The summer rains: grey skies, billowing clouds, soft or torrential rain that falls almost predictably every day.  Rain.   It is undeserved, uncontrollable and given by our Creator to everyone, with no preference to race, creed or status. We wait for it every season to wash away dust and pollution, making way for a fresh start.  It is life-giving, making sleeping or wilted plants wake up.  

 

As I watch the rain, I see an analogy to mercy.   As a daily Christian I need the life-giving restoration that God’s mercy provides.   I prepare myself to love the LORD my God with all my heart, mind and soul, but when I fail, I admit my failure and ask for His cleansing mercy. It’s between me and God.  He comes to me and the invisible miracle of the gospel changes my heart.  So, I end with mercy, or is it the beginning?  

 

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the LORD’S coming is near.

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James 5:7-8

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Watercolor on paper