Who has seen the rain?

I had just finished a motorcycle ride with my wife and we had come in to eat dinner. While dinner was finishing up, I heard those words. Great, a John Fogerty song. Creedence Clearwater Revival. I am pretty sure when I was a kid I was not even sure what a revival was or stood for. I knew it as an architecture style and little more. The original name of that band came from a “band member”, Creed. A beer, Olympia, the clear water. And the member’s renewed commitment to the band.

So, that seemed pretty random, but I have learned the hard way that God is not random nor does He waste time or energy. And then the vision began to unfold. There was a large river with a dirt road along side it. I saw people walking by the river. Not even cognizant that the goodness of the Lord was to be found in this river just to their left or their right depending on the direction they walked on the road. At some point they had chosen a direction or perhaps even assumed it had been chosen for them, determined by some hidden power. But the fact of the matter was , was simply this,. They began where they began and chose either to head east or to head west on the road they walked on. Depending on their direction, determined the side the river was on. I watched little tufts of dust rise up as people walked. Some were happy, some smiled, while others had their heads down full of purpose. I wanted to enter their “vision” and say “LOOK AT THE RIVER!!!” (A few weeks ago I had a similar vision about treadmills…) Come on! Cool off! Be refreshed! Drink deep!”

Moments later it began to rain. People never changed, they never stopped and they never seemed to notice.

I was then hearing this story from the 70’s.

A Russian couple was walking down the street in St. Petersburg the other night, when the man felt a drop hit his nose. “I think it’s raining,” he said to his wife.

“No, that felt more like snow to me,” she replied. “No, I’m sure it was just rain, he said.” Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them. “Let’s not fight about it,” the man said, “let’s ask Comrade Rudolph whether it’s officially raining or snowing.”

As the official approached, the man said, “Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?”

“It’s raining, of course,” he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: “I know that felt like snow!” To which the man quietly replied: “Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!”

You have to know rain, to know rain. Who has seen the rain? Those that have seen rain, know rain. Those that have seen God know God!

Back to CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival) for a moment. There is a movement that is taking shape, developing form here on the earth. It is people from the “band” that are coming together. There is no name because each person has a place, a position. (Much like in the days of Nehemiah.) They have a creed on their lips and in their heart. “Here on earth as it is in heaven”. (I also think the word “here” is interchangeable with “hear” today.) The place of Olympia(Olympus was in the shadow of the gods.) was a place of sanctuary. CCR saw it as a place of clear waters. (Is there not a people who are the sanctuary of God from whom living waters flow?) A renewed commitment to the “band”, a revival. Folks, it…is…coming!

Who will notice? Those that have seen the rain! There is a rain falling on the land. Falling on the just and the unjust. A rain not just of the former or the latter but of the present and the future to come. Find those who have seen the rain! That is what I am hearing. Find those that have seen it, who know it. You will know them by their love. (They will not be angry, shouting, shriveled up and prune faced! They will be loving servants of the most high, setting the captives free, carriers of the bread and wine of the Lord! There will be fruit in their lives, character in their homes and love in their hearts.)

Someone told me long ago there’s a calm before the storm
I know, and it’s been coming for sometime
When it’s over so they say, it’ll rain a sunny day
I know, shining down like water

I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
Coming down on a sunny day, yeah, oh yeah

I am looking for folks who have seen rain!

The vision intensified(Even now a day later, it has returned to my living room!) and I could hear the rain, soft and firs, then beginning to pelt. The road no longer released dust, but was now getting “sticky” with the wetness of the rain. People continued to plod, walk and run. “What is this” I heard! And then I heard a lone little voice. “It is rain. My grandfather told me about this! He told me that I would see rain. That I would hear it, taste it and see it. I would tell him my friends said there is ‘no such thing’ but he would pull me to my arms and say, ‘it is coming’ and this is what you will see and hear. This is rain. And that river is full of rain.”

I am writing and I can hear the sounds of rain in my home. There is a rain. There is freedom. There is revival!