Rain Down

So, I am laying on my mattress, listening to the beginning of the thunder storm outside. I think rain is one of my favorite events in nature. I just think the idea of God making water fall from the sky to nourish the ground is pretty awesome.

As I sit here and think about the rain, I am reminded of how it is sort of like a renewal of God’s blessing and favor. Here is what I mean: in the Old Testament, when Israel would step out of line on God, he would, among other things, send famine and drought on the land. Now from my understanding, ancient Israel can be a pretty dry place, so these times where there was drought must have been awful. How refreshing it must have been when Israel had finally learned it’s lesson, and God opened the heavens, and the water flowed and the thunder rolled and all turned green again.

So what about me, what does rain in my life mean. It seems to me that quite obviously that when I am closest to God, his blessing rain down on me. And the flip side of that is also true, when I am far from God, it is like a deep drought, with no end in site. I do honestly believe that God uses the times of drought to teach us something, reliance on him, how much He loves us, whatever message he needs to send, I think a lot of the times he chooses to send it in times of drought, in hopes that we will get it and run back to him so the rain can start again.

As thankful as I am for the times of drought because of all I learn and how I renew my relationship with God, I love the rain. I love it most when I am closest to him, as I should. But I love it when I know that God and I are doing good, and by that I mean that I am actively seeking him out and obeying him as much as my humanness will allow. But I do love the rain, I love how when you are in it, you can’t escape it, it totally drenches you. I love how everything is brighter after it comes, life feels better when the rain is around. I love how most of the time, you can sense it coming, and you know that God is opening back up and saying “welcome home son.” I love how it quenches my thirst, how when I am going through the drought I get so dry, and so weary, but then God sends the rain, and I thirst no more. I even love how the rain shows me God is sovereign, it can happen in an instant and vanish just as quickly, it is all in his control (and this is my feeling on both spiritual and physical rain). But mostly, I love that God chooses to send it down. As far as my limited understanding of God goes, he doesn’t need me, or any of us, but he desires to have a relationship with us. He doesn’t have to send down the rain, but he does, because he is loving and he cares for us.

Thank you for the rain!