Terry and I sat outside the other evening when a cool front moved through and brought a beautiful rain shower. When I say, “cool front” it wasn’t like a crisp, fall day. It was still warm, but I’ll take 83 degrees over 103 degrees, all day, every day!
Anyway, I could smell the rain coming and it made me smile. I remember being really little; maybe five years old, sitting on the porch swing with my grandmother and I said to her, “I smell rain!” My brother, playing not too far away and always on the ready to tease me, said, “You can’t smell rain, silly.”
My grandmother squeezed my hand and said, “Yes you can smell rain! And it’s a feeling of being closer to God.”
Now, even at 46, when I smell rain, I think about the feeling of being closer to God. That statement had such a lasting impression on me. Maybe that is why, at age 10, I recall sitting on the beach feeling the touch of God each time a wave crashed onto the beach, or the salt in the air melted on my face.
As Terry and I sat outside and enjoyed the rain, I told him about my Grandmother’s comment and how, to this day, I smile and think of feeling closer to God when I smell rain.
“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.” - Acts 17:24-25 (NLT)
Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that our precious God is all around us. He is in everything. The sunshine. The rain. The rainbows. The storms. The wind. The breeze. The sunrises. The sunsets. The thunder and lightning. The birds singing. The simple yet incredibly complex beauty of nature is a reminder of God’s presence.
Everywhere we look, we can feel closer to God or closer to ourselves. I want to feel closer to God, don’t you?