Grace Like Rain: Receiving Rest Instead of Striving

An invitation resounded to slow down, open up, and let grace do what striving never can. The new year is not a magic reset, yet there is a real possibility for cycles to break when the perception of God’s heart shifts. Grace is not earned, scheduled, or negotiated. It arrives like rain—falling on the watered and the parched alike—refusing to wait for improvement, and asking only to be received. The most productive thing soil does is rest, and so do humans formed from it. When rain fell in the ancient world, work stopped. Likewise, grace calls for surrender over effort, trust over tactics, being over proving.

The image of “grace like rain” reaches into everyday experience. Sometimes you sense a raindrop before clouds appear—phantom raindrops that signal a change in the atmosphere. Many have begun to feel that subtle loosening in the soul: the release from needing to get everything right, the freedom from fear that missing a Sunday undoes a life with God. That’s not confusion; it’s grace beginning to fall.

A candid warning surfaces: spiritual umbrellas keep people dry in a downpour. Productivity, religious measuring, and the identity built on “being needed” can shield a life from the very mercy it longs for. The call is not to treat grace as a reward for putting the umbrella down, but to recognize grace as the atmosphere already around us—always available—to step into without apology. Grace does not arrive when we change; grace is what allows us to change.

Luke’s account of the woman who wept at Jesus’ feet shows two responses when grace fills a room: kneel or measure. She rests her full weight at his feet; others calculate worth and optics. Grace exposes not to condemn, but to invite. It reveals where we cannot yet see people—or even those we love—because our minds are elsewhere. This year’s growth will look less like grinding and more like receiving, less like anxiety and more like rest at the feet of Jesus. Put the umbrella down. Let it fall. Grace like rain.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace breaks the tired cycle. The repetition of years that look the same rarely changes by willpower. It changes when the view of God’s grace shifts from suspicion to trust. Cycles don’t dissolve under grit; they dissolve under mercy received. Today can be different because grace is present, not postponed. [49:30]
• 2. Rain teaches us to rest. Rain doesn’t tell the ground to do better; it simply falls, and the soil receives. In Scripture and in life, rest is not laziness—it’s the posture where grace does its deepest work. The ancient world stopped for rain; wisdom still pauses when grace arrives. [70:55]
• 3. Sense grace before you can name it. Like phantom raindrops, the soul often registers mercy before language catches up. That easing in your spirit is not compromise; it’s God loosening old burdens and fear. Pay attention to subtle relief—it may be grace quietly leading you out of hurry. [63:54]
• 4. Put down your spiritual umbrella. Productivity, religion, and the need to be needed can keep you dry in a downpour of grace. Grace is not a prize for stopping; it’s the atmosphere already here, welcoming you to step in. Identity formed by striving can be unlearned in the rest that grace gives. [81:04]
• 5. Kneel, don’t measure, when grace arrives. In Luke’s scene, one person rests at Jesus’ feet while another silently scores worth. Grace draws hidden judgments to the surface—not to shame, but to heal. Choose the posture of the forgiven: resting close to Jesus, letting love be louder than metrics. [92:42]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:23] - Pineapple Award: Honoring Denise
• [02:14] - Scripture & Sangria: Yearlong Bible Reading
• [04:36] - Men’s Study and 75-Year Celebration
• [06:02] - Opening Prayer and Worship
• [42:01] - Don’t Rush: Lingering in Worship
• [49:20] - Breaking the New Year Cycle
• [52:17] - Vision for the Year: Grace Like Rain
• [56:16] - Phantom Raindrops: Sensing Before Seeing
• [64:12] - Psalm Image: Rain on Mown Grass
• [70:03] - When It Rains, Work Stops: Rest
• [75:12] - The Umbrella of Productivity
• [81:04] - Grace Is an Atmosphere, Not a Reward
• [86:08] - The Woman Who Wept at Jesus’ Feet
• [94:32] - Benediction: Let It Fall, Grace Like Rain

Bible reading

- Luke 7:36-50

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Observation questions

1. In Luke 7:36-50, what specific things does the woman do at Jesus’ feet, and how do the people in the room respond to her?
2. When Jesus asks, “Do you see this woman?” what does that reveal about what Simon (and others) were missing in the moment?
3. According to the teaching, what happened in the ancient world when rain fell, and why does that matter for how we think about grace? [01:12:40]
4. What images were used to describe resisting grace, and why do those “umbrellas” feel so normal to us? [01:15:12]

Interpretation questions

1. In a room where grace shows up, some kneel and some measure. What does it look like in real life to “kneel” instead of “measure” when someone’s messy devotion or story fills the room?
2. “Grace isn’t something that arrives when we change; grace is what allows us to change.” How does that reshape the way someone thinks about spiritual habits, goals, or resolutions? [01:21:29]
3. If Jesus promises rest to the weary, how is receiving rest an act of trust rather than laziness? Where might someone be confusing hurry with faithfulness? [01:13:12]
4. “Grace draws thoughts out of hiding.” When hidden judgments surface (like Simon’s), how can that exposure become an invitation instead of shame? [01:28:41]

Application questions

1. Think about a cycle that keeps repeating year after year. What is one small, concrete way you will practice receiving mercy (not striving) this week so that the cycle can break? [49:30]
2. Where have you been sensing “phantom raindrops”—a quiet easing in your soul—even if you can’t name it yet? What simple practice could help you pay attention (a short pause in your day, a slow walk, five minutes of silence)? [01:03:54]
3. What is your “umbrella” right now—productivity, religious measuring, or the need to be needed? Name one situation this week where you will intentionally close that umbrella and step into grace without apology. [01:24:12]
4. Where do you need rest, specifically? What boundary, “no,” or calendar change could you make in the next seven days to receive rest as a gift from Jesus? [01:13:12]
5. Who is a person you tend to “measure”? What would it look like to choose the kneeling posture instead—listening without fixing, speaking blessing instead of scoring, drawing near instead of keeping distance? [01:30:12]
6. If your identity has been built on being needed, what is one step you can take toward being wanted—serving quietly without credit, asking for help, or taking an unseen Sabbath moment? [01:25:03]