Jelly Bean Rain

“My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children.” Hebrews 12:5-6

My friend Sammy called me on a Sunday afternoon on his way to the beach with his family and as we were talking, a bad thunderstorm was affecting our conversation. You could hear the rain slamming down on the windshield through the phone. His grandson, Canaan was with him and he could hear us talking about the rain from the backseat. All the sudden you heard his little voice in the background say, “Paw-Paw, it’s raining like little jelly beans on my window.” Sammy and I both chuckled at that precious little statement from a five year old. However, at that moment, something came to me. When it rains we see that as sort of a “set back”, especially when we are traveling. Why? It makes the roads slick, no one wants to walk in the rain, your feet get all soaked and if your need to walk outside or get out of the car…its just majorly inconvenient!

Well, can you think of a time that’ was an “inconvenience” in your spiritual walk, for you personally? I can! When I as a Christ follower, or Christian, has veered from the right path, which is following Christ. You see, the only solution when a child does something wrong, is to discipline them! Why, because you LOVE them. God states in his word in the scripture above, “don’t ignore the Lord, he only disciplines those he loves”. See as Christians, sometimes we see the Lord's discipline as an inconvenience to us. But, some, who are more mature spiritually, may only see his discipline as a simple correction, (just a shower of soft rain), however, others may see it as tough correction that hurts when it hits the skin or heart, like “jelly bean” rain. See Canaan described the rain on his window like jelly beans, which to me seems it was big drops, and loud when it hit the window. Although, Sammy and I just saw a slight shower of rain passing through. So plug yourself in now. If you were sitting in the spiritual seat of life looking out the window in the midst of your storm, what would you say about the rain? Is it a soft rain? The type when you’ll get wet, maybe some slush in your shoe, and a little irritated or do you see it as “jelly bean” rain, a loud, scary, pour down, completely soakin’ wet and a MAJOR disruption of your life.

Friend, I’m here to tell you something. When God brings about his discipline to our lives, usually it is because we didn’t take him very seriously to begin with or we seem to think we can handle what the enemy throws at us ourselves. So, because Christ loved us enough to walk up a hill and hang on a cross for us, so our sins can be forgiven, he deserves to orchestrate a little correction I think(John 3:16). If he didn’t care about each of us personally, he wouldn’t waste his time dealing with each of us personally. He would make one major correction to everyone. However, he cares enough to make it personal.

So, whether you think your traveling through soft rain, or the hard, loud rain, remember: If Christ didn’t love us, there would be no need for correction. He would let us go on about our lives. Next time the Lord sees fit to draw your attention or administer discipline, just be thankful you know you are a child of God, and its only because he LOVES you that much to see you stand corrected.