Dance in the Rain

One of my FaceBook Friends late last night posted a picture of two young girls dancing in a puddled street with their hands raised high.  The caption reads "Life Isnt About Waiting for the storm to pass...  It's About Learning to Dance in the Rain."  It reminded me about a thing I call The Matthew Factor.  I think it was Gary Keffer who sings or used to sing a nice song that says "I know the Master of the wind, I know the maker of the rain. He can cause a storm, make the sun shine again..."  Many times, probably all of the time if we could see from God’s perspective, the storms of interpersonal conflict in our lives are no accident.

Have you ever considered this? When Jesus was calling His Apostles to be with Him, to witness His miracles and hear Him teach, He made a selection that invariably caused many a storm among the men.  He chose Peter, James and John, Peter's brother Andrew, and some other very devout, religious, proper Jewish men who were zealous for the law and zealous for their nation Israel.  Then He did something, He made a choice, or rather, if you're worried that my theology be correct, He acted on a choice that was made before the worlds began. He chose one of those despised publicans, a tax collector, who worked for the Romans taking tribute from their own people, many of them thieves overtaxing their Jewish brothers and padding their own purses. He chose Matthew.

Can you imagine the comments from the others? What's he doing here? What is the Master doing? Surely He must know who this man is.  Can you imagine the looks, the glares possibly?

It's The Matthew Factor "I know the Master of the wind, I know the maker of the rain. He can cause a storm, make the sun shine again..."  Many times, probably all of the time if we could see from God’s perspective, the storms of interpersonal conflict in our lives are no accident.  He made the sun shine again by knitting the hearts of these men together and using them mightily to change the world.  Don't forget Matthew wrote one of the four gospels, a gospel that leans heavily on the Old Testament prophecies and spoke to the hearts of the Jewish people.

When you are going through interpersonal conflict remember The Matthew Factor, and remember...

He must increase, WE must decrease! And many times this is accomplished through conflict.