Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain”
England has a reputation abroad for being an unnecessarily moist country. Yet in some countries moisture is welcomed. I have been in Africa when the rains break, and seen people stop their cars and get out and dance in the puddles because they’re so glad it’s raining. That wouldn’t happen in Manchester. Where people are still in touch with their farming communities, they recognise the need for rain. No rain, no food. So they are grateful for the rain.
It’s the same in the Bible. Rain is generally used as a sign of God’s blessing (except of course, in the Flood). It’s part of the covenant with Israel that if the people obey God, the rain will come (Leviticus 26:3-4). When they don’t, it doesn’t. And if you’ve ever been to Israel, you’ll know the value of rain. It’s a dry land where every drop is cherished and irrigation systems are carefully designed to use no more water than is absolutely necessary. Likewise the withholding of rain is a sign of God’s judgement (e.g. 1 Kings 16:29-18:1), and clouds without rain are the ultimate picture of disappointment (Proverbs 25:14).
The English don’t like the rain. Where we live, it’s usually cold, insipid and persistent, and it interferes with the cricket. Unlike tropical countries, where there’s a regular cloudburst which clears up quickly, here it can go on dribbling for days with barely a centimetre falling. Sometimes it’s even hard to know whether rain is falling or whether the air is just full of damp. The moisture nags its way through our clothing and into our bones. The only thing we enjoy about it is that it gives us something to moan about.
This year the English have had a lot to moan about. Having just endured the wettest spring since records began, the whingeing Poms have had a lot of practice. We’ve moaned about the weather so much that we’re now even moaning about people who moan about the weather. How does this square with St Paul’s injunction to the Thessalonians to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)?
Surely we should be cultivating an attitude of thankfulness even when we’re cold and clammy and our barbecue has just been cancelled. Can we here in England be thankful that we live in a country where the grass is green and we can turn on a tap without wondering whether water is going to come out of it?
We who are mission workers have many opportunities to moan. We struggle with intermittent electricity and water supplies, the challenges of bureaucracy, the dangers of travelling, setbacks in our ministries and so much more. A closer inspection of what Paul wrote reminds us that we’re not giving thanks for the circumstances, but we’re remaining thankful despite them. The early church did not give thanks because they were persecuted, but because they had “been considered worthy” of suffering for Jesus. James is no masochist when he tells us to count it ‘pure joy’ when we have trials – he’s encouraging us to look beyond the trials to the perfection that lies beyond (James 1:2-4).
Let us lift our eyes above our immediate troubles and give thanks to God for all that he has done in our lives.
