Showers of Blessing

A recent portion of our summer has been dry. Parts of Michigan are suffering “officially” under drought conditions (they have ways of measuring this sort of thing). The grass in the church yard is bright yellow.

And so as I write these words, the sounds of rain falling outside the window do indeed sound to me like “showers of blessing.” God is good.

I don’t understand a lot about meteorology. Sometimes I suspect that the meteorologists don’t either. But our faith informs our understanding of how things work. And yes, there are high and low pressure centers that affect the weather, fronts that carry along sweeping weather changes, jet streams that section off temperatures and storms, and ocean currents that steer larger weather patterns. But behind it all, above it all, there is the God who gives “showers of blessing.”

I do not believe that God is continually tweaking the weather, fiddling with this front or that current. He is bigger than that, older, in a sense. His purposes are not reactions to sudden situations, but rather eternal intentions that deeply shape our lives. We roil with the changes, but God is ever in control, never shocked or surprised.

But God does indeed give rain, or withhold, according to His mysterious purposes, that, at times, He reveals in His Word: “Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains” (Psalm 147:8).

It seems that behind every physical and material thing, there is a spiritual truth as well. And while rain made of real water is really important, “showers of blessing” are certainly not restricted to water falling on thirsty fields. Just as “real,” and even more important, are the showers of blessing that fall on thirsty souls.

Are you dry inside? Is your soul shriveled? Has it been a long time since you have been refreshed by showers of blessing that produces endurance and resilience, that fosters growth and fruitfulness, that energizes in such as a way that you are glad to creatively serve? Has it been a long time since you have fallen in love with Jesus all over again, amazed at His kindness and grace, impressed with our triune God who, at the same time, is both majestic and merciful? May you experience showers of blessing today.