Did you notice the deluge on Mother’s Day?  We got over an inch of rain in a very short time in the morning.  Unfortunately it was around 11 a.m., which is the time of the outdoor worship service at Lewis Center United Methodist Church.  Tom and I have been attending this service every Sunday and really appreciate the effort the church has made in continuing it.  With Covid-19 numbers down and restrictions relaxed, the staff could have decided that it is too much trouble.  After all, the average temperature on Sundays in April and May has been 42 and half of them have been rainy.

But, last Sunday, Pastor Matt stood under the portico and led worship in the deluge.  All the other worship leaders stayed inside the sanctuary.  We could hear them on the radio broadcast but could not see them.  Tom and I totally understood.  It was raining so hard that we had a hard time seeing Pastor Matt.  And it was one of those rains where you get wet from the bottom up as well as the top down.  I’m sure he was cold and soaking wet by the end of the service.

Pastor Phil led the prayer time from inside the sanctuary.  As he began, he asked us to honk our horns if we could hear him.  The 30 cars in the parking lot dutifully honked back at him.  He laughed and said “It is good to know someone out there can hear me!”  As I thought about that, I thought about our relationship and communication with God.

So often we wonder if God can hear us.  We go through metaphorical deluges in life and we think we are alone.  Does God hear?  Does God care?  Do we honk to get God’s attention or do we give up and decide that no one is there?

I wonder if God feels the same way.  He tells us how he wants us to act.  God gives us detailed instructions through the Bible.  He sends us preachers and prophets and even his Son and we ignore all of them, or pick and choose when to pay attention.  When someone finally lets him know that they hear, I wonder if God says “It is good to know someone out there can hear me!”

We are very self-centered creatures.  We want to know if God can hear us or where God is when we are in trouble.  But do we every consider whether we are truly listening to what God is telling us?  Are we listening to God as hard as we want him to listen to us?  God always hears us and is there for us.  Do we hear him?

Psalm 139
¹ You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.