The Rain
At the Lake
It was a typical hot summer day in Texas with temperatures in the high 90’s, but this day was starting to get a little cloudy. I pulled up into the property where I was going to mow the grass. On this waterfront property the house had been torn down and the owner was planning to build a new one, but for now it was just an empty lot. The grass had grown and now was 1.5 feet tall and more in some spots making the mowing very difficult. I had driven about twenty-five miles from my home to get here; brought plenty of water, so now I was ready to begin. Cranking up the mower I started on the easy part first which didn’t take too long and began cutting swathes through the thick growth of grass. Then it started raining; just lightly at first and I kept mowing. I noticed the grass getting wetter. Have you ever tried mowing wet grass much less wet grass that is tall? Then the rain got heavier. I thought to myself I drove all the way over here to do this, I am not going to quit and drive all the way back over here. So I began to speak to the rain, “Rain STOP!” I yelled. “You can rain over the lake or anywhere else, but not here!” It kept raining, I kept mowing. Suddenly the rain started pouring down; large drops were pounding me and the grass. I thought, “Well that’s it.” I started to gather up my things to go. Then the Holy Spirit rose up within me and I got mad and started yelling at the rain: “No! I’m not leaving, I was here first! You go away!” Then I cranked up the mower and started mowing again in the midst of the downpour. I kept mowing to show the rain that I meant business. In about two minutes the rain started letting up; another minute and it stopped as the clouds moved out over the lake. I was able to keep mowing and get the job done.
The Lawyer’s Building
I had been painting this building for about a week. It was on the access road to 183 in Fort Worth, TX just northeast of Beach St. While it looked like a prefab warehouse it was actually a lawyer’s office. I was painting the exterior a nice medium tan color with maroon trim around the roof to match the awnings and now I was ready to paint the side that is next to the parking area. Because of that I was there on Saturday so there would not be any cars there. Setting up my spray rig and running the extension cord, I poured the paint into the hopper and began to spray the building. The walls were about 16 feet high so I had to move up and down ladders as I sprayed. I had just finished spraying the garage door when it started raining. While the rest of the building had rough walls the garage door was smooth aluminum and I knew the rain would cause the paint to run and streak and I would have to sand it and paint it again. So I spoke to the rain, “Rain STOP! Move on! Don’t rain here!” It kept raining and as I looked closely at the door I could see runs and streaks starting to form. So I yelled at the garage door. “Even though you are getting wet you don’t have to run and streak. No runs, No streaks!” I yelled at the door. I kept speaking to the rain to stop and at one point I stopped painting. As I stood there thinking of quitting I said in my heart, “No, I am not stopping, I told the rain to stop and so it has to stop not me.” I resumed spraying and now I noticed that the wall too was starting to streak. I just kept painting and kept speaking. About half way across the wall the rain stopped. I finished painting and went back to check the building for runs and streaks. Guess what? There were none. None on the wall and none on the metal door. I packed up my equipment and waited for about thirty minutes and checked it again. Nope, nothing; it looked just fine – a nice paint job; no runs, no streaks, no errors.
Jesus spoke to a tree. Jesus spoke to the water on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus spoke to the storm and told it to stop. I spoke to the rain and you can too! Say what God says, do what God does!
Update: This happened again in 2011 and 2012.
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It was a typical hot summer day in Texas with temperatures in the high 90’s, but this day was starting to get a little cloudy. I pulled up into the property where I was going to mow the grass. On this waterfront property the house had been torn down and the owner was planning to build a new one, but for now it was just an empty lot. The grass had grown and now was 1.5 feet tall and more in some spots making the mowing very difficult. I had driven about twenty-five miles from my home to get here; brought plenty of water, so now I was ready to begin. Cranking up the mower I started on the easy part first which didn’t take too long and began cutting swathes through the thick growth of grass. Then it started raining; just lightly at first and I kept mowing. I noticed the grass getting wetter. Have you ever tried mowing wet grass much less wet grass that is tall? Then the rain got heavier. I thought to myself I drove all the way over here to do this, I am not going to quit and drive all the way back over here. So I began to speak to the rain, “Rain STOP!” I yelled. “You can rain over the lake or anywhere else, but not here!” It kept raining, I kept mowing. Suddenly the rain started pouring down; large drops were pounding me and the grass. I thought, “Well that’s it.” I started to gather up my things to go. Then the Holy Spirit rose up within me and I got mad and started yelling at the rain: “No! I’m not leaving, I was here first! You go away!” Then I cranked up the mower and started mowing again in the midst of the downpour. I kept mowing to show the rain that I meant business. In about two minutes the rain started letting up; another minute and it stopped as the clouds moved out over the lake. I was able to keep mowing and get the job done.
The Lawyer’s Building
I had been painting this building for about a week. It was on the access road to 183 in Fort Worth, TX just northeast of Beach St. While it looked like a prefab warehouse it was actually a lawyer’s office. I was painting the exterior a nice medium tan color with maroon trim around the roof to match the awnings and now I was ready to paint the side that is next to the parking area. Because of that I was there on Saturday so there would not be any cars there. Setting up my spray rig and running the extension cord, I poured the paint into the hopper and began to spray the building. The walls were about 16 feet high so I had to move up and down ladders as I sprayed. I had just finished spraying the garage door when it started raining. While the rest of the building had rough walls the garage door was smooth aluminum and I knew the rain would cause the paint to run and streak and I would have to sand it and paint it again. So I spoke to the rain, “Rain STOP! Move on! Don’t rain here!” It kept raining and as I looked closely at the door I could see runs and streaks starting to form. So I yelled at the garage door. “Even though you are getting wet you don’t have to run and streak. No runs, No streaks!” I yelled at the door. I kept speaking to the rain to stop and at one point I stopped painting. As I stood there thinking of quitting I said in my heart, “No, I am not stopping, I told the rain to stop and so it has to stop not me.” I resumed spraying and now I noticed that the wall too was starting to streak. I just kept painting and kept speaking. About half way across the wall the rain stopped. I finished painting and went back to check the building for runs and streaks. Guess what? There were none. None on the wall and none on the metal door. I packed up my equipment and waited for about thirty minutes and checked it again. Nope, nothing; it looked just fine – a nice paint job; no runs, no streaks, no errors.
Jesus spoke to a tree. Jesus spoke to the water on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus spoke to the storm and told it to stop. I spoke to the rain and you can too! Say what God says, do what God does!
Update: This happened again in 2011 and 2012.
Back to Life Stories
