A couple of years ago, we had the heaviest downpour in the recent history of the city we lived in.
And then we had a bleak warning that the next two days would be worse. A torrent of WhatsApp messages and alerts of all colours filled our screens. Videos of lakes overflowing, roads caving in, and flooded houses kept pouring in.
When the downpour started, it was frightening, to say the least. It was like the clouds burst open. The rain pounded on our rooftops and came pouring down in sheets.
Our scraggly lawn was soon submerged, and the sandpit our children played in was a mass of swirling, brown, muddy water. I had never seen rain like this, not even in my childhood home in the hills.
A few homes on the lower side of our community already had water up to their steps, and there was a flurry of messages, fearing the worst was yet to come.
The water was steadily rising, and a few inches more of this unrelenting downpour and it would enter our home. And we prayed... together as a family. We prayed out every verse we knew, cried out to the One who made the heavens and the earth, the one who led us to this new city, the one who promises us that the rivers will not overflow and the floodwaters would not drown us, literally. Our children asked the Lord God to keep their home safe like the wise man's home that was preserved when the rain came down. They tried very hard to be brave even in the midst of all the chaos and my facade of courage!
My anxious thoughts were interrupted by two little voices who were contemplating if we should move furniture or anything else of value upstairs, but my husband quietly reminded me, "If we have prayed and believe that the water won't enter our home, then why do we have a plan B?" Trust him to hold his ground and hold onto his faith!
Our children stood at the door of their playroom and watched the waters rising but believed with all their little hearts that they would not be affected.
We prayed as we trooped upstairs. I whispered fervent prayers that the rains would recede, sneaking a look at the furniture that would get wet and all the cleaning we would have to do if water did get in.
But we had agreed to trust God, and I didn't want the children to see my pendulous faith. I didn't want to shake their faith with my fears!
Then, miraculously, the downpour trickled down to a drizzle and stayed that way through the night. We went to bed confident that He watches over us. Though, I did get up quite a few times to peek out of the curtains. The drizzle had almost subsided.
The next morning, we woke up to a dull grey sky, and the sun was barely peeking from behind the dark rain clouds. During my prayer time, I felt a prompting in my spirit if I trusted the Lord to keep the rain clouds at bay despite the red alert warnings of heavy downpours predicted for the day.
As an act of faith, I decided to do a load of laundry. All the while, while loading the washing machine, I kept telling the Lord that I trusted Him, and this was my way of telling Him that I took Him at His word that He would protect us, however foolish I seemed.
"No matter what the weather reports say, no matter what the media hollers out, Lord, I trust you."
I think I got a glimpse of the Israelite's hearts in Exodus 14 as they walked through the sea that parted in front of their eyes.
I am sure their hearts quaked with fear as they walked through the Red Sea. Would the wall of water that was holding up come crashing down? Would Pharaoh's army thundering behind them slay them?
I know the rains weren't so dramatic, but to me, that laundry load was my act of faith, obedience, and trusting God, no matter what my outside circumstances looked like.
That night, as I folded up the freshly washed laundry and stacked them in piles, I was grateful for the voice I chose to listen to.
I hope my children learned a lesson in faith, and they will look back at this day and remember it as the day their mother was crazy enough to load up a washing machine in the middle of a deluge. I pray as they need to take decisions of faith, they would remember that their father didn't have a plan B, even when it seemed foolish, because he trusts God at His word.
We live in such uncertain times and in a sea of information overload. But that gives us more reason to hold onto the certainty of Christ and His unchanging word.
Sometimes, all it takes on our part is to take a small step of faith, and then suddenly, just like that, the storm passes by, the Red Sea parts, the walls come tumbling down, the impossible becomes possible.
So, if there is a Voice reminding you to hang out your laundry or do something unconventional in the face of fear, take that step in faith.
The Son will shine through!
Photo by michael podger on Unsplash
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