Proper Rain
Well I’m sorry to say folks, that we are due some thundery showers as the week goes on. Some proper rain. Maybe that’s appropriate for the time of mourning that our nation has been through over the last three weeks.
But do you remember how dry it was over the summer with all that heat; and how our grass became like “shredded wheat” (as one person I talked to called it)? Apart from a few short showers here and there it wasn’t really until the end of August that we got “proper rain”.
On Thurs 25th August I went for a bike ride to Houghton Mill and the heavens opened and the rain came down. It was wonderful seeing the big plops of rain landing in the River Ouse and thinking how much good it was doing to our crops and to all our gardens. Proper Rain.
In the Bible rain is a sign of blessing. You can understand why: in the dry and dusty middle east, rain can be a lot harder to come by and drought can be a reality as we faced this summer.
In fact there were many times when God in his judgement withheld the rain because of the people’s sin.
When I lived in Belgium a song by Christian songwriter, Stuart Townend was very precious to me, in fact I remember playing it on the day that my twin daughters were born:
How long before You drench the barren land?
How long before we see Your righteous hand?
How long before Your name is lifted high?
How long before the weeping turns to songs of joy?
I wonder if you can relate? I wonder if your soul is kind of thirsty, like a dry and barren land? I wonder if like a woman that Jesus met at a well, you have been trying to quench your thirst with relationships or the like. But like drinking salt water, nothing in this life truly satisfies, and we only end up getting more thirsty.
Here’s a verse from Isaiah which speaks of the blessing of God’s rain:
“You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord, have created it”. Isaiah 45: 8
Only Jesus Christ can truly satisfy. Only he can quench our thirsts.