In the past weeks we have finally received a small portion of the rain we had so desperately needed. The unusually hot summer has the parched ground crying out for relief. Other parts of the country saw the rains as a curse due to the flooding and devastation that came with it; but in Kingman the rains refreshed the earth. However, the downside is that the rains will cause the weeds to spring up overnight!
Rain can either cause great joy or great despair; depending on the plans you have for the day. Relaxing at home, curled up with a good book to read, makes a rainy day more enjoyable with the sound of rain falling gently on the roof. However, if you were planning on a certain outing to be your day of ‘fun in the sun,’ the rain may more than dampen your plans.
Have you ever prayed for the rains to come? Or, have you ever prayed for the rains to stay away? Either way, someone will be blessed while someone else will be displeased. It seems that as humans we can never be pleased.
We know from hurricane Dorian that excessive rain causes flooding, which in turn, causes so many people to be removed from their home. Thousands of people have suffered tremendous loss, and the people need our prayers as they start life over again.
Imagine the land without rain. Though excessive rains are a curse, normal rainfall is a manifold blessing of God. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 147:7-9: “Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.”
The rain is necessary because water is life! Without the rain there would be nothing growing on the earth, and every living thing would perish. Rain causes there to be a balance of nature as the grasses grow; feeding all of man and animal. That is why the psalmist declared that “a song of grateful praise” to God is in order.
In Psalm 104:13-14 the psalmist wrote: “He waters the hills from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth.”
Though the rains may ruin our plans for the day or week, the “earth is satisfied because God is at work producing all that is needed in his service to mankind.” So, the next time it rains and ruins your picnic or ballgame, suck it up and give praise to God anyway. Give glory and thanksgiving to God because he always has our best interest at heart.
- Jerry L. Dunn, Oak Street Baptist Church
