Singing in the Rain

There are days when you have to just take an extra big breath and sing in the rain. I just returned from a ministry trip in the Caribbean on the island of Grenada. We had a powerful time there doing street ministry during the days and evening evangelistic meetings every night. We split into 2 teams so that we could cover the island in a weak. Friday morning we had the opportunity to send one group into the prison and one group into a high school. My group went to the school and I had the honor of preaching to the students. It was an interesting situation to say the least. The students were to meet in this small courtyard for their morning assembly. A teacher opened in prayer, had a few students lead the class in two songs then handed things over to us as it began to rain. The students scattered in all directions to seek cover. This assembly was getting rained out but... I was not about to let that stop us from impacting these kids with the power of God. We had planned to do some worship so I jumped out to the center of the courtyard, thanked God for the rain and started to sing. With Jesse on the guitar, my friend Annie on the jembay, and the rest of the team singing along, we led the kids in a time of praise to God. We proclaimed "Every praise is to our God. Every word of worship with one accord." (Hezekiah Walker) As I clapped and sang praises to God, I felt the power of God preparing the hearts of the students for change. After we finished with a time of praise, we had prepared a simple drama for the students. The message of the drama was that in order to navigate through life we need a map. We can't trust the 'wisdom' of the world, we must only put our trust in God and his Word. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Life in this world can be difficult but it does not need to be complicated. The gift of the Holy Spirit along with the Word of God, supply us with an amazing map to guide us on our journey.

When the drama finished it was time for me to speak. This was going to be a massive challenge, there were distractions everywhere not to mention the rain that continued to fall. I thought to myself, "God, it's all up to you" and jumped into my message. Just then, The principal arrived and opened up a classroom for us to go inside. This was it, this is what we needed. The students filed into the classroom and found their seats. I did a quick game to get there attention and then, still sopping wet, I began to preach on the Word of God being our map, the absolutely vital key of "fleeing" from all temptations and the truth of our purpose & identity that comes only from God, not society. We lead all 50 students through prayer of dedication to the Lord and we prayed over them a prayer of protection and the purposes of God to be released and fulfilled in their lives. It was a powerful time. We had the opportunity to pray over the teachers and principal and saw God move powerfully. It would have been so easy to be defeated by the rain but as my good friend Don said, "we have come too far to not leave it all on the table."

Friends, I want to encourage you with this message today. No matter what challenges you face, you have come too far to not leave it on the table for the purposes of God. God is waiting for us to partner with him to release his purposes and plans so seize the opportunities that present themselves and see His will be done.

No matter the weather, be prepared to sing in the rain.