When It Rains It Pours.

In 1911, Morton Salt made this phrase famous when they added magnesium carbonate to their salt to make it flow smoothly — even in rain.

We want our lives to flow smoothly, too — especially in rain.

The Israelites in the days of Moses were no different.

God had brought them to the border of the land He’d promised to give them. It was now time for the Israelites to take that land. 

Charge!

Instead, however, they told God, “We’ll take it from here.” 

Israel’s courage had melted away by reports of gloom, doom and giants in The Promised Land.  They didn’t want to fight giants or fortified cities. 

What chance could they have against a walled city, say like Jericho? 

They resented God not making their lives flow easily or smoothly, and thus refused to enter the land and declared mutiny on Moses and Aaron.

Imagine a million or so people turning against you, talking of stoning you.

When it rains, it pours.

Out of the hearts of the Israelites poured fear, anger, despair, unbelief, and trouble.

Moses and Aaron did the smart thing when they lost control:

“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces . . .”
(Numbers 14:5)

They fell on their faces before the Lord, showing God and everyone, not only that they wanted no part in the rebellion against Him, but particularly that they were completely at God’s mercy. They looked to Him alone.

Had they remained standing, staring out at the sea of people set on stoning them, they may have been tempted to try control the crowd. From their face-down position, however, they could clearly see all they could truly control:

Nothing! 

Outside of their personal choices, they couldn’t control a thing. They couldn’t stop the murderous crowd or convince them to trust God.

If God didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done — which is exactly how you get things done.

This trip to the Promised Land was God’s responsibility to accomplish. Their job wasn’t to worry, whine, or rebel. It was to leave it all in His hands — the giants, the stoning, and the walled cities.

What about you? Has chaos rained down in your life without so much as a polite warning?

Have you had a Morton Salt week, month or year? 

Often the chaos gets us a little wet, but the worst we experience is a bad hair day.

Other times, the deluge comes fast and hard, leaving us clinging to the side of a lifeboat clambering to get in.

And sometimes, we’re just plain drowning with no lifeboat in sight.   

I lost control last Thursday.

I couldn’t get into my website all day. I became convinced a diabolical hacker had taken over my site for the purpose of destroying its content and forcing me to start over from scratch. It was nothing more than a bad hair day, but still I complained to God. 

Didn’t You tell me to start this blog, God?  I just told everyone on Jon Acuff’s “30 Days of Hustle” that one of my 30 days goals was to post consistently, and now I can’t even get into my blog? I HAVE to post. I’m working so hard, God.

I’m working. I’m working. I’m working.

In God’s great mercy, He reminded me of Moses and the Israelites. Ugh!  

I looked like the Israelites, not Moses. That’s not good!

So I fell on my face before the Lord. 

(I did it in my heart. I guess I could have done it for real, but my children might have called 911 if I suddenly collapsed onto the floor.)

In my face-down faith position, I could see what I control.

Nothing.

Especially since I’m far-sighted. Everything just looks blurry when I’m face-down; just like my life when I try to take control back from God.

In all my fretting about my blog, I’d lost sight of the fact that this blog — and all my writing — is His work. It’s His doing. It’s my fingers typing, but it’s His responsibility for its success. 

If God wanted me to post last Friday, no hacker could have stopped Him. 

If He didn’t want me to post, no computer guru could have made it happen. 

It kind of makes me feel powerful, except He’s the one with the power. I just stick close to Him, sort of like a side kick.

I’m not saying God blocked my website. (It was actually down for updating in order to make my site more secure against those evil hackers. Whew!)

God just took that time to remind me that my plans amount to nothing — even my best intentioned plans. My desire to control my life amounts to nothing. 

When I want more control in my life, I need to fall face-down before the Lord and give Him full control to do as He pleases, and then follow Him as He leads. (And He leads to places we would never have dreamed of going!)

It wasn’t Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt. He never had control over that group. It was always God.

God controls all — even when it rains and how hard it rains. We never need to fear even in the fiercest storm, if we remain face-down. 

When Morton Salt added magnesium carbonate to their salt, it remained free-flowing, even in the rain. 

When we add face-down faith before God to our lives, spiritual blessings flow freely, such that even when it rains, it pours . . .

Peace, Joy, Contentment, Belief, and Courage!

That’s what I call the Moses and Morton Salt Method.

Works for me.

______________________

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my When Life Explodes series. (Scroll to the bottom of the series for Part One and then scroll up for Part Two and Three.) 

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