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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When it rains, we can see it come down. But we rarely see the immediate results of its work. After soaking the ground; weeks, months later, we see produce emerge. The time between rain and produce can make us forget that the rain was working even as it disappears from our view.
God’s Word is often imagined as rain. The prophet Isaiah is one of those who uses the metaphor of rain to describe God’s Word saying, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth … so shall my word be that does 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.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)
God’s Word comes down into our lives and the lives of others around us. Some of us receive it on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening. Some receive it daily in their devotions. It enters our ears and makes its way into the soil of our hearts and minds. There, it produces fruit of various kinds and quantities.
Unfortunately, some in the world never receive the rain of God’s Word. Their hearts and minds live in a desert wilderness. Some by choice … some by circumstance. And that’s where we come in. God has abundantly rained His Word upon us so we can become the means He uses to rain down His Word on those living in spiritual desert wildernesses. He’s called us to water those parched hearts and minds by showering God’s love to them with our acts of love and kindness, grace and mercy. As the rock-hard ground of their souls is softened, eventually, through the Holy Spirit’s power, they’ll be ready to also be watered by God’s Word from us … or others in their lives. God’s Word rained down in both actions and words does not return to God empty. It will achieve its purpose. So let it rain!
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Jim