Are You Looking For Rain?
I had a visitor in my garden this morning. I was out in the cool fresh morning air, showering all my thirsty plants. I was standing very still, relishing in the quiet and the sounds of nature when I was delightfully surprised by this little finch that came very close in the bush I was watering.
It seemed totally oblivious of me and hopped onto the sand and proceeded to flutter its wings and preen itself in the light shower right there before my eyes. It mesmerized me. My mind immediately thought about the songs we sing… “Send your rain oh Lord…” “… Like the spring rain, watering the earth…” “…Holy Spirit rain down…” “…Rain down, can you hear the earth is singing, Rain down, my heart is dry but I’m still singing…” “…bring Rivers in this wasteland, clouds into this sky; Bring springs of life into the wells that have been run dry…” – you get the idea…
Then I heard it. The still small voice that said… Are you looking for the rain?
Then I remembered that last night, I was babysitting my grandchildren only 6.69 miles away from my house. During the evening it rained gloriously for about an hour, I remember thinking how glad I was for the rain, picturing my own garden and lawn just those few short miles away also getting a soaking. Well, when I got home later, everything was bone dry! Incredulously, there had been NO rain!!!
All my life I have glossed right over words like we sing in those songs… sooo taking them for granted… But this morning, it actually sunk in. Just like that little bird took the opportunity to get into the ‘rain’, that’s what we have to do with the spiritual rain that God sends to quench our thirsty souls. We have to put ourselves in the right places, and get ourselves into the right way of living in order to find ourselves in those rain showers with which He blesses his children. Have you found yourself in the blessing of His rain recently?
Jeremiah 5:20
(These scriptures are from The Message…) … Listen to this, you scatterbrains, airheads, With eyes that see but don’t really look, and ears that hear but don’t really listen. Why don’t you honor me? Why aren’t you in awe before me? Yes, me, who made the shorelines to contain the ocean waters. I drew a line in the sand that cannot be crossed. Waves roll in but cannot get through; breakers crash but that’s the end of them. But this people—what a people! Uncontrollable, untameable runaways. It never occurs to them to say, ‘How can we honor our God with our lives, The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn and maintains the rhythm of the seasons, Who sets aside time each year for harvest and keeps everything running smoothly for us?’ Of course you don’t! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this. Your sins keep my blessings at a distance.
Psalm 126:4
And now, God, do it again— bring rains to our drought-stricken lives So those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.
James 5:16
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
Isaiah 30:23
God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the Day God heals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.
Psalm 143:3
The enemy hunted me down; he kicked me and stomped me within an inch of my life. He put me in a black hole, buried me like a corpse in that dungeon. I sat there in despair, my spirit draining away, my heart heavy, like lead. I remembered the old days, went over all you’ve done, pondered the ways you’ve worked, Stretched out my hands to you, as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.
Psalm 72:1
[ A Solomon Psalm ] Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God, the gift of just rule to the crown prince. May he judge your people rightly, be honorable to your meek and lowly. Let the mountains give exuberant witness; shape the hills with the contours of right living. Please stand up for the poor, help the children of the needy, come down hard on the cruel tyrants. Outlast the sun, outlive the moon— age after age after age. Be rainfall on cut grass, earth-refreshing rain showers. Let righteousness burst into blossom and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing. Rule from sea to sea, from the River to the Rim.
Matthew 5:43
“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
Proverbs 25:14
Like billowing clouds that bring no rain is the person who talks big but never produces. (The Message)
Proverbs 26:1
[ Fools Recycle Silliness ] We no more give honors to fools than pray for snow in summer or during harvest. (The Message)