Daily Living: The Wonderful Gift of Rain

Job 5:8-10 "I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields."

Psalm 147:7-8 "Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains."

Isaiah 55:10 "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
1 Kings 18: 41,44-45 "And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.  And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain....."

I used to take rain for granted.  Living on Canada's West Coast there was always abundance of rain.  We didn't pay much attention to it, seldom used an umbrella.  It was just part of life and was never extreme.  We used to joke that people who carried umbrellas must surely be tourists, for no local would ever carry an umbrella. There were no hurricanes, tornadoes or large hail..  I loved walking in the rain, and listening to it on roofs of cars.  When I was a child my bedroom was below ground and my mother would turn on the sprinkler at bedtime so the sound of it would mimic rain and I would fall asleep.



Four years ago my husband and myself moved to Vancouver Island and the weather here has been a difficult adjustment.  Rain in Spring, then very hot and dry summers.  This summer has been exceptionally hot and the fire danger is labeled "extreme" but I (and no doubt many other believers) have been praying for rain and the Lord has graciously provided.  Two weeks ago we had a good downpour that well watered the area.  This past weekend there was a folk music festival held at the large farm down the road from us.  I am always concerned about large gatherings of people with smoking and such..  last week I saw a fellow riding a motorcycle down the road with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and wondered what he was going to do with it.   At any rate,  this past weekend the Lord graciously provided rain again.  On Friday our area got rain heavy enough to dampen down the farm where the folk music festival was held, and on Sunday more rain, albeit a gentle rain.  However Sunday's rain was very different to the north and south of us.

My son and his family live 1/2 hour north of us on the side of a mountain just below the treeline.  I have been quite concerned about how dry that area is.  Last night my son phoned to say that on Sunday it rained harder than he has ever seen and that everything was soaked. Thank you Jesus!  The fire danger on that mountain is now lowered and my son's property is soaked.    Last night on the news we heard that to the south of us they received what they called a "100 year event" with thunder, lightning and pouring rain, this was another area that was very dry. 

However the good with the not so good..  this week my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter are in Manitoba in a small town visiting relatives.  Yesterday there were tornadoes that touched down in Manitoba but I trust that they were not affected. 

One thing for sure, the Lord is in control of the weather, and not science or the weather department.