We feel the rains of your love, We feel the winds of your Spirit, Now the heartbeat of Heaven let us hear….
Let it rain, let it rain, open the floodgates of Heaven! Let it rain.
-Jesus Culture, “Let it Rain”
Rain. A deluge of life-giving water pours from the sky. Little droplets become puddles, little puddles become streams, little streams lead to bigger streams, and big streams lead to rivers. It’s rain. Love it, hate it, or tolerate it. That won’t change when it will come and what it will do. Rain.
I want to share two encounters with you about rain. A revelation and a picture. You may have felt the rains of love, you may have been pushed by the winds of the Spirit. But have you heard the heartbeat of Heaven? If you haven’t or if you’ve forgotten, listen with me. It cannot be drowned out.
Pitter-patter. Boombadoom. Labdub, Labdub. A rhythm is a cadence, a cadence is movement. So is the heartbeat of Heaven. It is as much a soothing, sleepy lullaby as it is a snare-drum shouting a marching order. This is the call I’ve heard….
More than a month ago, I had a revelation that I still can’t forget. I was worshiping somewhere between midnight and two o’clock on a Sunday morning at a house of prayer I volunteer at. I was singing let it rain at the top of my lungs. I faced a giant map of globe and I sang until I felt the beat of Heaven. It was a desperation, a deep overflowing desire to see life spring up where death had made a desert. To look at the globe and realize only a small percentage of the billions of people on it are truly alive? It brings a new perspective. I don’t know about you, but when I worship, I believe I am doing for more than singing a melody. I believe worship can be a prophetic expression, an intercession as much as a communion. After all, He says he is “enthroned by our praise.” So I sang let it rain. Oh God! Let your life flow down from heaven. Oh God! Save your children.
I kept singing and I saw a mental picture of a desert. Sand dunes upon sand dunes. But as I “looked” up, I saw the dark clouds of rain covering this desert. So I sung a new song: I see the clouds, I see the clouds! But no rain. Finally, a while later, I asked what is the rain? Jesus, show me. What is the rain?
You. You are the rain.
My eyes opened. I couldn’t help but sing again. We are the rain, we are the rain!
Just a week ago, God gave me another picture.
I was sitting in church, listening to my Pastor lead us in hearing the Holy Spirit. I closed my eyes and asked what his presence in my life looked like. This time I saw the storm from the birds eye view, so to speak. It looked like Accuweather’s radar map. A huge, spiraling hurricane. A storm. Ok, now, until very recently I haven’t thought of these two moments as being linked, much less on the same page. So imagine it separately. I see this storm and I’m tripping out! I’m like dang Jesus, that’s you in me?! I had never thought of his Spirit this way. But the picture continues…
This time I see the storm move on the map of a globe. It starts in America and it moves! I would tell you where but that might be personal information. Until it is fulfilled, all I can say is I can’t wait to go back to Africa. Again, the picture changes….
This time I imagine a tree. A small perfectly shaped tree. Standing alone by a still pool of water. But the view zooms out and I see something around the tree!
A storm. A swirling cloud surrounds this small tree. And then everything came together.
I am the tree, he is the storm. Together, we are the rain that will change this world.
You see, God has spoken of his Spirit as the wind many times. In John 3:8 he says, “The wind blows wherever it wants to. You don’t hear or know where it comes from or where it’s going. It’s like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”(paraphrased) In 2 Samuel 22:11 David says, “He rode on a cherub and was seen flying on the wings of the wind.”(paraphrased) And there’s quite a few more. Wind is a movement in the physical atmosphere, his Spirit is the movement in the spiritual atmosphere. So why am I talking about wind now? Here’s why:
Rain comes from clouds. How do clouds move from the body of water from which the moisture they carry originated? Wind. I’m not a scientist, but I know that wind moves the clouds from the body of water to the dry land. Once over dry land, and the point of precipitation is reached, the moisture comes down and we say “It’s raining!” Grab the umbrellas, jump in the car, turn the windshield wipers on ’cause it’s gon’ get crazy up in here. See, the wind brought the moisture. Together, they turn dry, dead sand dunes into fertile, lush valleys. But this isn’t poetry. Here’s my message to you:
Get in the presence of God, first and foremost. I don’t care if that means a church service, a house of prayer, or your closet. Just get in position near a body of water. Then let him stir you. Maybe you’ve been praying for Muslims. Or the homeless. Or your family members. Maybe you’ve been crying out, Jesus please! Send life to them! Save them. That’s good. Now listen.
He might say this:
I will. I will send life. But what will my winds carry? I need you to go to them. I will save but I will save them through you. You are the rain. Let go of your plans, dreams, fears and let me push you. You have my Spirit inside of you–you carry life-giving moisture. It’s time to let it out.
That’s where I am, family. I feel a burden for the globe that is hard to express. I desperately want to see world wide revival. So I’m going. First I’m going to the “body of water”, YWAM Zion. But from that place of intimacy, I will follow him out! Out to the dry lands. And then the rain will fall. Then the thirsty will be given a drink, the dying will be given new life, the desert will become a pasture.
This is the heartbeat of Heaven.
Let’s follow. Let’s take up our crosses. Let’s exchange comfort for impact. And then our King will have what is due his name: a kingdom. #heisworthy #letschangethisworld
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