THE HAZARDS AND BENEFITS OF THE RAIN PART 2:

Flash Floods

We’ve all seen the obvious destruction left when a flood sweeps through the land and carries away everything in its path. Homes, vehicles, animals and people are washed far away and rarely recovered. It’s the flood waters that are most feared in tsunami and hurricanes. These hazards are what we always focus on in times of flooding.

Although flooding can be devastating to an unprepared community, it is a natural event with a purpose. What we often fail to hear are the wonderful stories which can immerge after flood waters have subsided and debris has been cleared. There are crops needful for sustaining our nation’s hunger whose fields are often flooded and have to be carefully watched to sustain the water’s fury. When good diligence is given to these areas prone to flooding, they can produce bumper crops and quantities that are almost unbelievable.

Let us view this from a spiritual standpoint. As floods of the Spirit begin to flow, those who aren’t anchored in or rooted deep into the richness of the Word, will be swept away. It’s a gruesome image to consider. It is God’s desire and our heartfelt passion to see that none in our ranks are caught in the water’s ferocious path. However, there will be a time when the inevitable flood of the Spirit will come and there will be little we can do to ensure that all are safe from it’s destruction.

Church history has shown us time and again, seasons of such great floods. Just like spring’s torrential down pouring, the early Church felt it when, in the second chapter of Acts, they all begin working together and with great vigor through the power given them in the Holy Ghost. They were unified in their purpose and set out to change the landscape of the spiritual world. The rain came in the upper room and spilled over into every life choice they made from that day forward. Even by chapters 4 and 5, we see that they begin to consider it with regard to their personal finances and the welfare of one another. While this was a beautiful way to ensure that each person was cared for and had his needs met, there was also a devastating incident that came out of this flooding of Word and Spirit.

In Acts chapter 5, a man and his family made plans to jump into the waters of love as the others were and found himself being carried out by young pallbearers. Ananias and Sapphira made a pledge and wanted to be partakers in the love and giving as the rest of the Church. The difference was that their anchor wasn’t in the maker of the rain. They loved the others and wanted to help, but only as far as their love would let them go. Had they been anchored in Christ and demonstrated His love, they would not have failed to deliver on the true sale of their property. Our love and our ideas will only let us go so far when the rain begins to fall. It’s only when we have totally anchored in God and His Word that we will rise out of the raging floods with all that we need to live fully and freely.

Noah was surely concerned when others would not heed his warnings of flood waters, but in the end, God shut the door of the ark and it was His decision not to allow any more passengers. If we do not do everything that we can now to sound the alarm and give every opportunity to the citizens of this land to come to the Lord, we are as guilty of drowning them as one who holds them under water. We aren’t told that Noah made an attempt to open the door for those who may have begun to realize where true safety was when the flood waters rose. I think we don’t read of it because Noah was anchored and rooted in his faith in God. He did all that he could in the dry times to warn and plead with his neighbors to come along. He may have been emotional as any human being would be, but his confidence in God didn’t wane. He knew that God knew best.

There will be those who have anchored to the Lord, but when they see those whom they love floating helplessly by on the waters, they will chose to cut from the anchor and lose their souls to the flood. I pray that we don’t fall victim to this horrible catastrophy. Love that compromises will cause one to plunge into those dangerous waters, while those who have God’s love and genuine faith in Him, will hang on and send out lifelines through the Word.

These are negative parts of the flood of the spirit. The truth being that so many will perish in even the greatest efforts of the Lord to restore and keep them. It is my desire to end this message with the positives of the flood. In a natural flood, there are great benefits. For instance: First, floods return nutrients to the land and contribute to the health of wetlands. In Isaiah 44:1-8, we see a list of ways in which God planned to bless his people. Let’s take a look at verses three and four "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring: and they shall spring up as amoung the grass, as willows by the water courses." When we feel the flood of the Truth and Spirit, we are reminded of the importance of the health of our souls. We recognize our dependence on Him. His Word gets to saturate our every fiber and this makes us stronger with Him and with one another.