Why God Makes It Rain

I was convicted recently about how self-centered I can be sometimes in my prayer requests. Lets say I am planning on taking my family to the park on a Friday so that we can have a picnic and play some games. I may spend a little bit of time beforehand praying that it will be sunny on Friday. If it is sunny, I may thank God that he cares enough about me to allow me to have a sunny day for my family time. If it is not sunny, I may wonder what God is trying to teach me by causing the clouds to produce a downpour despite my prayers to the contrary.

When I stop to think about it, I am struck with the fact that this view of prayer, and life, assumes that God orders the weather based on one of two purposes:

1) God makes it sunny because he is giving me a good gift

2) God makes it rain because he is trying to teach me patience

Is it possible that, in light of all the people who will be impacted one way or another by the rain or sun, that God might have some other reason for choosing between rain and shine? Maybe two miles away there is a poor family praying for sun because they don't not have enough money to fix their leaky roof. Maybe across from them is a farming family praying for rain because they are behind on their commitments for their crops. Maybe if it rains someone will choose, against previous plans, to stay home. And maybe that person, if they would have gone out, would have missed an important phone call about a sick loved one. Maybe if it rains someone will slip on their driveway and hit their head. And maybe while they are in the hospital they will be visited by a chaplain who will share with them the message of life. And maybe that person will, for the first time, clearly see who Jesus is, and will embrace him fully.

My point is that there are a lot of better reasons for God to choose rain or shine than my family plans on Friday.

Is this a big deal? It is to me because it is a sympton of a greater issue. I think life is all about me. I am not thinking communally. I am praying for sun, and assuming that God will make his decision based solely on me. I am not considering how a sunny day may positively or negatively impact anyone outside of my immediate family. Wouldn't my prayer life be different if I cared deeply for those in my community, much less those in all the world?

This is not just about prayer, though. This is about perspective:

* You know, this Writer's Strike is really inconveniencing my life. 24 is going to be postponed because these writers won't just accept a deal.

* That car accident on the road really messed me up because it made me late for a meeting. Especially with all four ambulances there at the same timed.

* When 9/11 took place, it was really rough because our business took a major hit.

Am I thinking this way? Sad.

Back to prayer. Why is it that we somtimes struggle to come up with prayer requests? Normally, it is because things in our immediate sphere are somewhat in order. We are all healthy, uninjured, and no one is traveling anywhere. When I am asked about prayer requests, why I am not able to quickly think of four or five situations in which people are hurting deeply or dealing with great difficulty? Why am I not compelled to pray for those who are homeless during the winter? Why am I not moved to lift up the oppressed believers in Uganda? Why am I not burdened to pray that the American church would move closer to real racial reconciliation so that we are showing the world that the gospel breaks down barriers?

Why? Because it is all about me.

Why else? Because God decides between rain or shine based on my plans for Friday.