Longfellow wrote –
“Be still sad heart and cease repining;
Behind the clouds the sun is shining,
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life a little rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.”
Just think about the last time you saw the sun and felt the rain drops on you. Did your heart respond in thankfulness to God?
In Matthew 5:44-48, we see Longfellow’s inspiration for this verse. God allows His rain to fall alike on both the just and unjust. Our perception of the Source of the rain or sunshine is based on our standing with God. We who are God’s children are commanded to pray, seeking God’s blessing that the eyes of the unbeliever’s understanding be opened and that they too might come to the place of right standing with God as His beloved and adopted children of the God’s family by saving grace received by faith in Christ Jesus.
You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete [a maturity of godliness in mind and character, [having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Verse 48)
Prayer is how the children come into union and communion with their Father God –
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it. [And] not be like Cain who [took his nature and got his motivation] from the evil one and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his deeds (activities, works) were wicked and malicious and his brother’s were righteous (virtuous).
Only aim at and strive for and seek His kingdom, and all these things shall be supplied to you also.
Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom! (Luke 12:31-32 (Amplified Bible)
Do not dis-count the power of your heavenly Father’s love for you –
Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. [I Kings 17:1.]
And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual]. [I Kings 18:42-45.]
(James 5:17-18, Amplified Bible)
Every house has a door for family and visitors to enter into lawfully; only a thief seeks to come in any other way –
I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture.
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). -John 10:9-10 (Amplified Bible)
Every room in a house has its appointed purpose and here is the place of prayer –
But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open. (Matthew 6:6 (Amplified Bible)
When you don’t want to be disturbed or you are seeking privacy, you close the door tightly against intruders, likewise in the spirit —
For a wide door of opportunity for effectual [service] has opened to me [there, a great and promising one], and [there are] many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:9 (Amplified Bible)
Ask your Father for the ability to do and be according to His perfect will. God always honors those kinds of requests. He will always respond to a cry for help–especially a call for courage. Remember to do everything with thanksgiving and praise for this is the Father’s will for you.
Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.
And at the same time pray for us also, that God may open a door to us for the Word (the Gospel), to proclaim the mystery concerning Christ (the Messiah) on account of which I am in prison. (Colossians 4:2-3 Amplified)
In Revelation 3:7-8 we see the KEY to the door…
And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open:
I know your [record of] works and what you are doing. See! I have set before you a door wide open which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name.
And again, in Matthew 16:19 (Amplified Bible)
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.
Finally, remember your place as children of the Most High God, your hearts are light and carefree for Your Father loves you and it is His good pleasure to give you the kingdom—
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. (Philippians 4:6 (Amplified Bible)
John Lennon, at the apogee of the Beatles’ success, had this to say,
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock and roll or Christianity.”
Yet, it was the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun“, one of George Harrison’s best-known Beatles’ contributions from a song-writing collaboration between Harrison and close friend Eric Clapton that came out of one of the most difficult and darkest of years for Harrison.
In 1969, Harrison was arrested for marijuana possession, he had his tonsils removed, and he had quit the band temporarily. The song was written while Harrison was away from all of these troubles.
Harrison stated in The Beatles Anthology:
“Here Comes the Sun” was written at the time when Apple was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen: ‘Sign this‘ and ‘sign that‘. Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever, by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided I was going to sag off Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. The relief of not having to go see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote “Here Comes the Sun“:
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it’s all right
Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it’s all right
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it’s all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it’s all right
It’s all right
(“Here Comes The Sun“, The Beatles)
Ironically, John Lennon did not contribute to the song as he was recovering from a car crash.
Father, everywhere I see Your grace and glory manifested. Father, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, break through stubborn hearts and open their eyes of those around me to see Your favor upon us all. I ask this in Jesus’ Name to give me the heathen for an inheritance AMEN.
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