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Drenched in Heaven's Dew - Encouragement Café - April 28, 2016

Drenched in Heaven’s Dew by Dawn Aldrich

Thursday, April 28, 2016

…and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world…

Daniel 5:21 NIV

Indian summer held on tight, wrapping its humidity around us like a wet blanket as we sauntered to class through the tree-tunneled path around the pond.  I felt my bobbed curls—the ones that took me twenty minutes to unfurl—coil up like Shirley Temple’s locks (but not so cute), making me wonder why I hadn’t submitted to their natural tendencies.

Then, rain came—slowly, at first—one gentle drop after another.  It was almost melodic watching the rain drops create rings across the pond.  Then the melody turned dark and the heavens opened just as we emerged from the tree tunnel.

She laughed and slowed.

I cry-screamed and darted.

Then, looking back at her through fogged-up glasses I yelled,

Are you crazy?  We’re gonna get soaked!

I LOVE getting drenched by the rain, she giggled back at me.  It makes my hair so soft.

I tried enjoying it, partly because I thought maybe I was missing something, but mostly because I didn’t want to be rude and leave her behind.

I hated it.  Soggy made me feel undone and ugly.

Sometimes that’s just the posture God wants from us—undone and ugly—because that’s where we’re most vulnerable and teachable.  It’s those times when we’re most undone that our God ears hear and our God eyes see.

Just like King Nebuchadnezzar, a God-appointed king turned arrogant, we must be stripped of all our pride—undone and ugly—and let heaven’s dew drench us bone deep (Daniel 5:20-22).  And when we soak up all that rain our rough edges soften.

Unattended brokenness creates pride; pride that says,

I got this, Lordor Leave that chapter alone, God, ‘cause I closed that book years ago.

We think ourselves better protectors of our hearts than our Creator.  We manipulate our way around the truth and hold Jesus at arms’ length, avoiding intimacy, for fear He wants to inflict more pain or brokenness.  But quite the contrary, He only wants access to our hearts to heal us—to restore us to our original beauty and kingdom purpose.

Prophesying of the coming Savior, Jesus, Isaiah said:

…for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

Isaiah 61:1 NLT

Jesus came to set us free from all our brokenness, all that binds us—everything we’ve spent years trying to straighten on our own.  He comes, through the Holy Spirit’s nudging, asking permission to cover you with heaven’s dew.

Will you let it rain?  Will you endure feeling undone and ugly in order to be made new?

Abba Father, may we lay aside our pride and humble ourselves before You, today.  Forgive us our arrogance that our brokenness created.  We lay it all at Your feet and we say, Come, Holy Spirit, come.  Rescue us, heal us, restore us and transform us.  Drench us with heaven’s dew.  May Your kingdom come right here, right now.   Amen.

© 2016 by Dawn Aldrich.  All rights reserved.

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