Minute Meditations

It is raining. It has been raining for days and it is still coming down. The old saying ”When it rains, it pours” certainly applies to our weather as well as to the salt that made the saying famous.

In the book of Job Elihu speaks of the weather saying ”For God saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength... Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud... He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.”

Certainly rain can both be a blessing and a curse for man. Too much or too little are equally bad. Right now we feel that we are getting too much but it is impossible for us to say whether or not it is ”for correction or for his land or for mercy.” Certainly those who are losing their homes would not feel that it was a blessing but it could be. God often sends troubles to help teach us what He would have us know. If some family later learned the truth as the result of evacuating their home in time of floor we would certainly call that rain a blessing although it may have brought much temporary heartache. It is our ultimate good that concerns God, not our day to day ups and downs, and so if we really put our trust in Him then we can say with Paul that we believe that all things are working together for our good. It is sometimes hard to understand just why some things happen but then we are seeing through a glass darkly and He has perfect vision not only of the present but of the future as well.

If we know and believe this then we can accept with good grace what God sends to us. Certainly Job had the right attitude when he said ”the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

God sends the rain as well as the sunshine and both are necessary. We may enjoy the one more than the other but both are needful. When it has been raining for days and days with no sign of the sun we need to remember that this too shall pass. David passed through many dark days but by the eye of faith he was able to look beyond and he declared ”And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.” We have all experienced that beautiful morning without clouds that comes after a heavy rain. There is a morning coming when the Sun of righteousness will arise. It is our lifelong goal to be with him in that glad morning. To be there then we should now be sowing to ourselves in righteousness so that we may reap in mercy. Hosea continues by saying, ”Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

If we want God to rain righteousness on us then we must now be letting His Word rain upon us. As His word saturates our bodies it causes us to grow. ”For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.”