Things have been very difficult for us here because of the torrential rains over the past month. A number of houses have been devastated by rising water from the nearby streams, which have seemed more like rivers. During the rains the people in the towns were very worried. We saw many farms and fields affected and completely lost.
In the past, when we were in need of rain, the Christians have gathered together to ask the Lord to send rain. This time, as the rains began to fall, people in the town started asking the Christians to pray that the rains would stop. The Lord heard our prayers, and the rain stopped.
During the rains, in their desperation, many people seemed to correct their sinful lives and said they wanted to be obedient to God. Some of them were people that had claimed to be Christians for a long time, but their lives were characterized by mediocrity and lukewarmness. As the situation got more and more difficult they committed themselves to serving Him.
But, now that the rains of subsided and people have been able to start working in the fields again, many of those who made those kinds of commitments have returned to their lives of sin. Many are no longer meeting with the church and they are once again living in lukewarmness.
So often we look like the people of Israel, who only remembered God when things were hard. When they were in the midst of oppression they would cry out to God and separate themselves from their sin and make promises to God to walk with Him. But when things got easier, they once again forgot the Lord who had helped them.
Beloved brothers and sisters, we must walk in fellowship with our God always, whether we are in times of trial or ease, blessing or otherwise. We cannot forget the Lord; we must continually forsake sin and follow Him.
