Can You Make It Rain Harder?


After the sudden, and unexpected passing of musical icon Prince, I found myself watching videos of his performances, and reading articles about his life and times.  As a child of the 80's, I have more than a few memories connected to his music.  

Several years ago, Prince performed during the halftime show of the Super Bowl, which was held in Miami.  It started raining that day, and continued in torrential downpour all throughout his performance.  When the production manager of the halftime show called Prince prior to the show he said to him, "It's really raining," half expecting him to cancel the performance.  Instead, Prince said to the manager, "Can you make it rain harder?"  

What followed was one of the most inspired and powerful live performances in the history of live performances.  I remember watching it with my heart in my throat, in complete and utter awe.  And Prince did it all in a downpour of Biblical proportions.  

"Can you make it rain harder?"  

My wife and I woke up this morning to the sounds of a torrential downpour outside.  Thunder and lightning flashed and rumbled in the early morning darkness.  As we lay in bed listening to the chaos that was happening outside, my wife softly said, "I love storms."  I had to agree.  I love storms, too.  I love them when I am safely inside, and not having to go out in them.  

The storms in our life will come--of that we can be certain.  They will come and sometimes they will bring a deluge of rain that threatens to flood, to overwhelm and even drown us in care, anxiety, worry, dread, fear and doubt.  And it's in these moments when we need to practice the kind of defiant hope that the Psalmist proclaimed: 

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?  I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:1, 14)

That passage is the equivalent of saying, "Can you make it rain harder?"  It's a declaration of the supreme confidence we can have in the One who not only calms the storms outside of us with a word, but also quiets the storms within us with his power, love and mercy. 

May you lift up your face into the storms of your life today, knowing that you have nothing to fear, nothing to dread.  May you life up your face into the storms today and smile defiantly as you speak into the storm, "Can you make it rain harder?  Is that all you've got?  Because I've got the Lord Almighty in my corner, and I am not afraid."  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.  Amen.  

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