Who brings the rain?

He will be like rain falling on a mowed field, like showers watering the earth. Psalm 72:6

I have always loved the days when the rain comes. I guess it reminds me of when I was little and my best friend and I, if it was not lightning and if our moms said ok, would play outside in the rain. I don’t know what made it so cool. Maybe it was because all the “chickens” were inside and we seemed to have the entire neighborhood to ourselves. If it rained real hard there were some great mud puddles at East Lake Park to ride bikes through. I still love to stand in the garage and watch the rain. About a month ago, my wife and daughter were on a trip for the weekend and I was at home mowing the grass. Just as I was finishing a huge rainstorm passed through. I was glad to have finished the yard work and was also glad the grass was getting some much needed water. I was already hot and dirty from working, so when the rain started, I put away the lawnmower and weed eater and just walked around in the yard in the pouring rain.

It made me think about how the rain has an effect on us. It also has a great effect on a football team when the rain comes during practice. There is an excitement across the field mainly because everyone thinks practice may be cancelled. The linemen love it and the quarterbacks and wide receivers hate the rain. There is also nothing worse than a hot August practice when it rains for a few minutes and then the sun comes out and makes everyone miserable. The rain also serves several good purposes. The rain that falls brings life to all living things and without it everyone would die. It also cleanses the air we breathe and causes everything to grow. However, the rain can also cause severe damage. We hear about the rivers that rise and cause flooding and people lose their homes and sometimes their lives. Worst of all, it causes fumbles on Friday nights.

There is also rain that falls on us every day in the form of the challenges of life. Our lives are full of school, work, and athletics and each brings its own set of challenges and people. Challenges also come in the form of family problems, peer pressure, and worries about the future. These challenges individually or in small amounts serve to strengthen our character and deepen our reliance on our Heavenly Father. They are like the rain that comes in small amounts and nourishes the soil and cleans the air. They fall for a short while, but are soon gone and forgotten. Like the sudden storm that comes and the rain soaks everything, but the sun dries it up and we forget it ever rained. But the downpours of life, when it all hits us at once, come and we feel like we are drowning in the flood and become consumed with our worry. The consuming worries have the same effect as the floods. They ruin relationships, they destroy the foundation of a home, and most importantly, they create a disconnect from God.

Psalm 72:6 refers to the dew or rain that falls at night and serves to restore the pasture that has been eaten and trampled on during the day. Allow God to restore you every day. He will be like the dew that falls on a damaged field and restores it before it is chewed up and scarred from the challenges of the new day.

One question, are you in the middle of a flooding rain in your life? Ask Him to give you strength to survive the flood. Pray about and ask Him how He is trying to change you. The world will tell you to “fix it” yourself. Wait on Him. Also, thank Him for the challenge.


Chad