Tim Timberlake - Dancing In the Rain
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Summary:
In this second message of «The Vow» series titled «Dancing in the Rain,» the preacher builds on the Holy Spirit as «Jesus Unlimited,» using Joel 2:23–27 and Acts 2:17 to portray the outpouring of the Spirit as former and latter rain essential for life, refreshment, and restoration after loss. The central thought is that just as rain is vital and celebrated in arid cultures, we must embrace the Holy Spirit’s pouring with childlike abandon—dancing in the «rain» regardless of how we look or feel—to experience revival, washing away of self, and deeper intimacy in the greatest love story with Him. The call is to move beyond comfort, familiarity, and people-pleasing into spontaneous, desperate worship that refreshes dry places, restores what’s been eaten by years, and awakens us to live fully for God’s pleasure.
Worship and Goodness of God
Well, come on, why don’t you love on Him for a little bit? He’s so good; He’s so good! God is so good! In the old church, we used to sing, «God is so good, God is so good, God is so good; He’s so good to me.» So when you think about it from a corporate setting, you may forget how good He’s been to you. Not only are we worshiping corporately, but we are worshiping personally. When I think of the goodness of God, when I think of where He’s brought me from, and when I think of the fact that He’s not finished with me yet, I can lift my hands freely and say, «God, You are good to me.»
How many of you can testify that He’s so good? Oh, He’s so good! Oh, He’s better than your clapping; He’s so good! How many of you are ready to go a little further today? Three people? All right, go load up the car and go further with about three of you, then we’ll go a little further.
Series Recap and Today’s Message
Last Sunday, we started a series of conversations called «The Vow.» We kicked it off with a message called «Gone With the Wind,» and today I want us to go a little bit further as we talk about the greatest love story known to mankind: our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
As I mentioned to you last Sunday, the Holy Spirit is Jesus Unlimited; it is Jesus without limitations. It is the Spirit of Jesus at work in us, for us, and on us. It’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can have a relationship with Jesus. So today, I want us to go a little bit deeper into that conversation. Today we’re going to turn to chapter two in this conversation, and we’re going to talk about dancing in the rain. Dancing in the rain! We talked about going with the wind last Sunday, and today we’re going to talk about dancing in the rain.
Scripture Foundation: John 20
If you’ve got your Bible, I want us to go to the scripture we read last Sunday, John chapter 20, verse 19, as we lay some foundation and groundwork here that leads us to the part where we extract the application that God desires for us to see. John chapter 20, beginning at verse 19, says, «Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst of them and said unto them, 'Peace be unto you.' And when He had said so, He showed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then He said to them again, 'Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said unto them, 'Receive ye the Holy Spirit.'»
Scripture: Acts 2 and Joel 2
Let’s go to Acts chapter 2, verse 17. Acts chapter 2, verse 17 says, «And it shall come to pass in the last days,» everyone say, «in the last days,» saith God, «I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.» Peter is referring to and quoting a passage of scripture from Joel chapter 2, verse 23, which we’ll read now. Joel chapter 2, verse 23 says, «Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. And the floor shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore,» everyone say «restore.»
I’m curious to know if there is anyone listening to me right now that needs something restored in your life. This is the promise that He makes to us: «I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall never be ashamed. And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God and none else; and my people shall never be ashamed.» And it shall come to pass—this is what Peter was quoting afterward—that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids, in the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are pouring Your Spirit on us, and God, we can run in the pouring. God, we thank You that You are our righteous Redeemer who comes to restore everything that has been lost, everything that has been broken, everything that has been taken. We thank You that You have the ability and the power to restore it. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Dancing in the Rain
Come on, somebody, right at the top of your notes: «Dancing in the Rain.» If you’re watching online, I want you to put that in the chat: «Dancing in the Rain.» When we think of rain in our climate and in our culture, society in the Western world sees rain a lot of times as a nuisance. When it rains on Sundays, pastors understand attendance will be a little lower. When it rains and you have outside activities planned, you tend to change your activities. When two people are engaged and they are planning for their wedding, and their wedding is outside, a lot of times they have a secondary or backup plan in case it starts to rain. But in Eastern culture, specifically in this day and time that Joel is talking about, rain is a necessity. See, without rain, there is no water, and without water, there is no life. As a matter of fact, they constructed and built their cities based upon where there was rain. Life happened where there was rain, because rain was an indicator that life was sustainable in that region.
We have rain in abundance, and every so often we hit seasons of drought. We have water in abundance; we don’t think twice about how we utilize the water that we have. We fill a half-empty dishwasher and we turn it on. We cut on a faucet and we forget that it’s running, and water just continuously runs. We run our bathtub, and we let the water out. When I was growing up, there were four of us. My parents would run the water and tell my sisters to get out of it before the water gets cold so your brother can use the water that you got in there. It’s nasty sitting in there with a pre-existing ring of dirt around the bathtub, but they wouldn’t waste any water. I’d say, «Daddy, it’s cold.» He’d say, «Turn a little hot water on there; it’s nasty in here.» That’s what the soap is for! We don’t think about water from the focus of need; we view water from the lens of abundance.
We have water in such abundance that we grade the water we drink based on purity and taste rather than the necessity of hydration. When Joel is talking and speaking, he’s referencing the Holy Spirit coming from the perspective of rain, former and latter, because he knows that the people hearing this prophecy will understand the need for something that resembles rain. He understands that there are people who will read this letter, this prophecy, this text that I’m writing to you, who understand the necessity of rain. If there is no rain, there are no crops; if there are no crops, there is no food; if there is no rain, the animals can’t drink; if there are no animals, there is no food; and if there is no food, there is no life. He understands that all of life is predicated off of rain, and where there is rain, there is life. Where there is rain, there is power; where there is rain, there are people; and where there are people, there is possibility. He understands that as the rain comes in season, so does everything else.
So he uses the analogy of the Spirit of God like we understand rain. He references two seasons of rain—everyone say «former» and «latter.» The former rain would come to soften the ground so that the farmers could sow the seed. The former rain of the Holy Spirit came to soften the hearts of men and women so that men and women for generations to come would understand the necessity of the Spirit of God. The latter rain would come to mature the seed that the farmers had sown and to seal the seed so that they could blossom and develop into what they are supposed to blossom and develop into. I believe we are in the latter rain of the Holy Spirit where He is maturing us, developing us, and blossoming in us what it is that He desires for humanity to see. It is right for us and the right time for us to understand that where there is rain, there is life; and so it would behoove us to dance in the rain.
Childlike Faith in the Rain
You know, the thing that I love about children is you don’t have to tell children to stay away from puddles. It’s like puddles are magnets to children, and regardless of what they have on, they want to jump in the puddle. No matter how long and how hard you tell them not to run outside in the rain, there’s nothing that can stop them from at least experimenting with what the rain feels like on their forehead and in their hair. After you’ve just done it, when you tell them not to do something, it’s like that’s an invitation to do the exact opposite. Why, as adults, have we stopped doing what we did when we were children? Maybe this is why God says, «I’m looking for a group of people that have childlike faith,» because He understands children don’t care who’s watching them. Children don’t care who’s looking at them; children don’t care who’s judging them; children don’t care how crazy they look. Children don’t even care what clothes they have on; all they know is they’re going to do what they have in their heart to do, no matter who’s watching them, no matter who’s pointing the finger. No one can tell them not to do something that they have in their heart to do.
I wonder what happened to you where people told you you couldn’t do what God told you you could do, and you started to believe people over the voice of God. What happened to us? Have we stopped dancing in the rain because of the clothes we have on, and because of our hair, and because of our agenda, and because of the identity that we’ve created and made for ourselves? What has happened to us? Have we gotten so grown that we no longer have childlike faith? It’s time for us to dance in the rain! It’s time for us to lay aside the identity and the persona that we’ve made for ourselves and forget who’s watching us, and dance with the One who created us.
The Greatest Love Story
See, when you’re in love and you understand the greatest love story is between you and the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter who else is watching you. All you know is you’re consumed with the person that’s in front of you; you’re consumed with the person that’s at work on the inside of you; you’re consumed with the person that’s up on you; you’re consumed with who you’re in love with. Guess what? You become like who you’re in proximity to. You can always tell if you need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit if you’re more concerned about people than you are about Him. If your worship experience stops with how you feel, you need to dance in the rain. If you’re searching, you’re looking, you’re in search of a feeling, then you need to dance in the rain. If your relationship with Jesus is about you, and you think that He’s going to answer your prayers because you prayed them, then you need to dance in the rain.
Do you know the only reason He answers your prayers is because He’s at work on the inside of you? He can’t lie to Himself. The only reason He gives you a yes is because He’s given Himself a yes from within you, and we think it’s about us. No, the only reason you are alive, you live, move, and have your being is because He is at work on the inside of you. How dare we get consumed with how we look when He made us? How dare we get consumed with how crazy we come across when He’s calling us outside of our comfort to dance in the rain? Do you understand the greatest love story is that of the Holy Spirit? The reason I like to say that He comes like rain is because no matter how far you think you’ve gone, no matter how long you’ve run, no matter how distant you feel from Him, He says, «I’ll always fall for you. No matter what you’ve done, I’ll always fall for you. No matter what you’ve said, I’ll always fall for you. No matter how far away you seem, I’ll always fall for you. No matter when’s the last time you’ve been to church, I’ll always fall for you. No matter when’s the last time you prayed, I’ll always fall for you. No matter when the last time you did something that I told you to do, I’ll always fall for you.» As consistent as the rain.
And so if He falls for us, who are we not to dance in it and say to Him, «God, I don’t care how crazy I look! I don’t care how crazy I sound; wash me of me!» See, it’s only through the rain that I get the pain washed out of me and become more like Him. It’s only in the rain that I get the sin washed out of me and become more like Him. It’s only in the rain that I get my insecurities and my imperfections washed out of me and become more like Him. It’s time for us to move out of our comfort and dance in the rain.
Awakening Our Senses
Joel chapter 2, verse 23 begins by saying the Spirit of God is going to come like the former and the latter. In Acts chapter 2, verse 17, we see the first case of this with Peter, and he’s talking in the upper room. He tells them, «Your young men will have visions; your old men will dream dreams, and the Spirit is going to pour itself out on all flesh.» As the Spirit of God pours, we dance; the Spirit of God reigns on us and washes out of us everything that does not reflect and resemble Him.
We dance because it has very little to do with how we feel and how we look, and has everything to do with Him. You know what rain does? Rain makes you hypersensitive and aware of what’s happening around you. Sometimes our senses are lulled to sleep by what becomes familiar. You ever been in the kitchen so long smelling the same food that it takes someone new coming into the kitchen and saying, «Hey, that smells good,» and then it sparks something in your mind that reminds you of what you’re actually smelling? Have you ever been in a room with music for so long that you tune out the music, and it takes someone entering into the room and asking you what that song is for you to remember you were listening to music in the first place? Have you ever been in a room full of people having conversation and you zone out, and you forget that you’re even in a room full of people? Then someone says, «Hey, are you listening to me?» and you zone back into the conversation that everyone’s having about you? You were there, but you were not present because your senses were lulled to sleep.
You know what I’m sensing in our churches across the world today? We’ve become familiar with church. We’ve become familiar with the system of church, the structure of church, the schedule of church, and so we look at our watch, and when the time stops, we get up and leave. It’s just like if you are going to dinner with your loved one—maybe it’s your wife, maybe it’s your girlfriend, maybe it’s your boo thing, I don’t know who that is for you. Once a week you go to dinner, right? In the middle of conversation, you get up, you walk out, you leave them at the table. Come back the next week; in the middle of dinner, you get up, you walk out, you leave. Finally, they ask, «Why do you keep doing that? I’m still sitting here.» You say, «Because it’s time for me to leave.»
«But we’re in the middle of the conversation!» «I know, but the time says it’s time for me to leave.» «But I was trying to tell you something.» «I understand all that, but the time says it’s time for me to leave.» That’s exactly how it feels to the Holy Spirit. We’re on this dinner date with Him, and we’re watching our watch more than we are engaged in the conversation with Him. We know the system and the structure of church, and we’ve been lulled to sleep by our convenience and our comfort, and not our convictions. So when the message is up, we don’t mind grabbing our stuff and walking out because the conversation is over for us instead of hanging around to see if He actually wants to tell you something more.
In order for us to become who it is that He desires for us to be, the first step to doing that is dying to self. Every single day, there should be a funeral because you’ve killed yourself so that the God in you could be resurrected to new life, and people encounter Him through you and not your opinion, not your will, not your wants. Do you know we’ve created a generation of Christians who serve themselves and serve the one thing that we can’t take with us into eternity? We serve the one thing that we can’t take with us after we take our last breath. We serve this flesh. We feed this flesh. We dress this flesh. We do whatever we want to to this flesh because this flesh makes us comfortable, and we can’t take this flesh with us into eternity.
Let me help you understand something: You are not your flesh; you are a spirit, and you were alive before flesh came onto you. So when we sing songs such as «Come alive in the name of Jesus,» we’re not talking about this body; we’re talking about the Spirit of God on the inside of us. Let’s be honest; let’s be transparent; let’s be authentic for a second and understand life has a way of lulling us to sleep, and so we need to be awakened, jolted, and revived so that we can be who God created us to be.
Implications of Rain: Refreshing and Restoration
Joel is prophesying that there will come a time where the Holy Spirit is going to fall like rain, the former rain and the latter rain.
There are two implications of rain that I want you to write down (the team’s going to throw it up here on the screen). The first is refreshing: where there has been dryness and barrenness, the rain comes to refresh what has been dry and what has been barren. The rain comes to refresh and revive what has been dry and what has been barren. Have you ever been thirsty and couldn’t find a drink? Have you ever been desperate and couldn’t find what you were desperate for to quench what it was that you had a desperation for? Have you ever been hungry and didn’t have food around you? The Spirit of God comes like rain to refresh every dry and barren place in your life.
I believe the Spirit of God is going to fall afresh on us as His people and awaken us to the Spirit of God that is moving and at work in the earth and in the world because there’s a remnant of people that understand, «I don’t care how crazy I look. I don’t care how crazy I sound. I don’t care if it fits within the organization or structure of what people deem to be church, but I will stand outside of my comfort and dance in the rain because He is pouring His Spirit out on all flesh!»
See, you understand the significance of rain when you understand the significance of desperation. When you understand how dry and barren your life is without the rain of the Holy Spirit pouring itself out on you, then you bring yourself to the knowledge and understanding: without God, I am nothing! Without God, this situation will overwhelm me! Without God, I will lead myself down a dead end! But because of the reign of the Holy Spirit, He breathes new life into me, and I have a life worth living, and He washes out of me and pours in more of His Spirit. Is there anybody grateful that He pours out His Spirit like rain so that we can dance in the rain and bring ourselves out of ourselves and into the presence of the Holy Spirit and understand that it’s not about us, but it’s all about Him?
I wonder, do I have about thirty crazy people that will put their childlike mind back on for a second and lift their hands and say, «God, I know this looks crazy, but right now it’s all about You. God, I know this sounds crazy, but right now it’s all about You. God, I know this feels crazy, but right now it’s all about You!» You’ve got to dance in the rain! We get so focused on how we look and how we feel, and it removes us from our relationship. But when life happens, the right amount of pain hits your body, and you’ve got to go to the hospital, you don’t care how you look; you don’t care who’s watching you. They put a robe on you where your whole backside is out, and you don’t care; you just want them to fix it. Fix whatever is going on in me; I’m in pain! I need you to work out of me what’s going on on the inside of me. I can’t fix myself, but you can!
And when you come to the place of desperation with the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter how you look; it doesn’t matter that you’re crying; it doesn’t matter how you sound. All you need is for Him to fix you, and the only person that can fix you is the Holy Spirit. The rain comes to refresh what has been dry and barren.
Number two: the rain comes as restoration where there has been loss. Is there anybody that has lost something? Anybody that has suffered the pain of loss? Anybody that understands the significance of something valuable that you no longer have because it has been lost? There’s no worse feeling than understanding you once had something of value, and it’s lost. The rain comes to restore what has been lost! Not only does the rain come to refresh that which is dry and barren, but the rain comes to restore what has been lost.
Rest and Pleasing God
In Isaiah, you see the perfect example of this in chapter 28, verse 11. It says, «For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to His people,» to whom He said, «This is the rest"—everyone say «rest"—"wherewith you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing.» I want you to hear this last part: «Yet they would not hear.» Not that He wasn’t speaking; not that the Spirit wasn’t being poured out; not that the Spirit was not raining on all flesh, but they would not hear.
This is what I believe: I believe we can have so much going on in our lives that it becomes louder than the voice of God, and sometimes it gets very difficult and hard for us to hear rest. You know one of the most relaxing rest environments is the sound of rain. I like a good rainstorm when it’s time for me to go to sleep. Something soothing, something wooing, almost like a natural lullaby that heaven releases through rain. It’s time for us to rest! What Isaiah is saying here is because the Spirit of God is being poured out, you can find rest for your weary soul.
Jesus says, «Come unto me, all that are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.» The prerequisite to receiving what He’s pouring has come: you’ll get refreshed when you come because you’re dry and you’re barren; you’ll get restored when you come because there are some things that have been lost that I desire to replenish; but you’ve got to come.
The third thing that we have to understand as it concerns rain is this: pleasing God often means disappointing people. Pleasing God often means disappointing people. In this relationship, in the greatest love story that you will ever know, it’s not about appealing to the approval of men and women; it’s about living for the approval of one. And here’s the truth: He always accepts you because He has always loved you. There is no «no» with the Holy Spirit.
Spontaneous Love
Kids don’t know this these days, but back in the day, middle school, high school, we used to write letters to the person that we liked. Now kids just send a text; if they don’t have their number, they’ll go on social media and stalk the person, then send him a direct message. Back in the day, our direct message was very simple: a white piece of paper on it; it had on there a very simple question: «Do you like me?» It had three boxes: yes, no, and what?
Oh, come on, we’ve got some folks over thirty in here today! You’d fold it up; you didn’t take it to the person you liked; you took it to your friend to take to the person you liked. You’d wait around the corner, watch them open it, and you’d wait anxiously. You’d pray for yes, but how many of you know you would settle for maybe if you had to? Oh man, you were praying, «Okay, they didn’t say yes, maybe they checked that maybe box.» You knew there’s a chance.
The Holy Spirit is telling you, «It’s never 'no' for me; it’s never 'maybe' for me. There has always and only been 'yes, ' and every single day I continue to fall for you because I love you. Every single day you wake up, I’ll continue to fall for you because I made you. Every single day you take in air in your lungs, I’ll fall for you because I care for you.» All He wants to know is, when you choose Him the way He chooses you, can you dance in the rain? Can you move beyond yourself and stand in His presence and say, «God, forget time; it’s just me and You! Forget my agenda; forget my wants; forget my will; forget what I have scheduled; it’s just me and You. Have Your way in me; do whatever You want to do! Let’s be spontaneous today!»
Because love is spontaneous. Today, some of you are going to do something for your significant other that they don’t even know about because love is spontaneous. You’ve got some tricks up your sleeve because love is spontaneous. Can you be spontaneous with the Holy Spirit and say, «God, I know I’ve got on my good clothes, but I want to dance in the rain. God, I know I just got my hair done, but I want to dance in the rain. I know it will look crazy, but I want to dance in the rain because the only person that really matters is You!»
With me and my marriage, my wife knows she’s number two in our house. She’s number two in my life because my first love is Jesus. Let me help you understand something: The way I know how to treat her is because of what He tells me, and the way that I treat Him is how I treat her. So if I don’t spend time with Him, I’m not going to spend significant time with her. If my relationship with Him isn’t good, guess what? My relationship with her isn’t going to be good because I am a reflection of what I am in proximity to.
I can always tell when I need to dance in the rain by how dry and barren my spirit is. I’m telling you, there’s some of us in this place today and some of us watching online right now that need to dance in the rain because your soul and your spirit are dry and barren. But the good news is He’s pouring His Spirit out on all flesh, and if you can receive, He’ll pour.
Closing Call to Worship
So I want you to stand on your feet right now. I want you to have childlike faith. Move beyond your job; you may have a great job; you may not even have a job. Move beyond your identity; you may know who you are; you may not even know who you are. Move beyond your wants; you may know what you want; you may not know what you want. For a moment, step back into that childlike faith. The Spirit of God is reigning over you right now, and you need to dance in the rain!
If you know that you need to step outside of your comfort and dance in the rain, I just want you to lift those hands right now. Let’s make this about Him, not about us. Let’s ask Him to restore, refresh, replenish, and revive the Spirit of God that’s at work on the inside of us. You may have been filled before, but as you live, you need an infilling of a fresh flow of the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, as the worship team comes, I just want you to declare that you are coming alive and you’re going to live the life that He has designed for you to live.