Rain

It is raining again, and for those of us who live in the South, that’s good news. Jeremiah spoke of how the Lord gives the “autumn rain and the spring rain” (5:24). For whatever reason, he did not send us much autumn rain this season, but we are being treated to a healthy dose of spring showers.

Soon flowers will blossom, and the world will be beautiful again. Every spring we are reminded of God’s power to resurrect the dead. He brings life so effortlessly; nature’s cycles almost seem careless: Flowers burst into brightness and fall to the ground. Green foliage sprouts, but soon turns colors in shades of yellow, red, and brown, and then it too falls to the ground. Winter arrives, killing everything in sight. And then, just when it seems that our world has dried up and withered away, the rains report and the world is born again. In the words of poet Tony Hoagland, “Nature’s wastefulness seems quietly obscene…making beauty, and throwing it away, and making more.”

But in truth there is nothing careless about the rain. God always sends it at the right time. Without it, crops would not grow, animals and humans would starve, and life would vanish from the earth. God has a purpose in sending the showers. That purpose is life.

Rain never fails to achieve its intended purpose. James used it as an illustration of patience, pointing out that the farmer trusts in its power, waiting for the “precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains” (Jas. 5:7).

Isaiah had the effectiveness of rain in mind when he made the following comparison.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (55:10-11).

God uses his word just as effectively as he uses rain. It will achieve its purpose, regardless of the circumstances or of man’s refusal to heed its commands.

Much of God’s word has already been fulfilled. Abraham became a great nation, just as he said. A descendant of Abraham’s named Jesus was born of a woman and died to save us from our sins, just as he promised. This man rose from the dead and left his tomb, as it was predicted in the Scriptures. The church was established as a dwelling place for God on earth, according to God’s word.

Many things have not been fulfilled. Judgment Day is coming. A blissful eternal home awaits the righteous; everlasting punishment awaits the wicked. I know these things will come to pass because God spoke about them.

These words are right as rain.