God visits the earth and waters it. He does this by providing rain.
I love rain. Many people dislike it. I love it. Why should I love rain? It’s not easy for people to understand, but I will try to explain.
Rain is a precious gift from God. It falls from the sky. Sometimes it falls in large amounts. Sometimes it comes in small amounts. Sometimes it doesn’t visit us for weeks or months at a time. We call that a drought. When rain visits it always brings its friend the clouds. Rain can also bring its noisy friend thunder and an its illuminating friend lightning.The clouds shield us from the heat of the sun. The thunder puts us on edge. The lightning gives a show that not even fourth of July fireworks can compete against.
Rain is like a guest in your home. At first you’re glad to see the rain, but if it stays around too long, it can out stay its welcome.
Rain refreshes. It gives the air and the countryside a shower. It washes the pollen off the cars, sidewalks, and driveways. Rain removes the dust from the leaves of the flowers, bushes and trees. It waters our yards, gardens and pastures. It provides the fruits and vegetables we eat with the moisture they need to live and grow.
The temperature drops when the rains come. Rain transforms the hot world into a cool, air-conditioned environment in the summer and a chilly one in the winter. The last two days in Dallas the blast furnace has cooled to a hospitable world. It helps you appreciate a dry house. It is a muse for Ray Bradbury as he writes short stories about it in “The Illustrated Man” in his short story “The Long Rain”.
Rain also helps a person forget their troubles. You worry less about how you look. After all, the water from the mud puddle may have splashed on you. You enjoy freedom from irritations. Only those people who truly want to see you will come see you in the rain. Most complainers stay away when it’s wet outside. They wait for a less rainy day.
It is fun walking outside when it rains, especially with an umbrella. “Just singing in the rain” … You can hold an umbrella in one hand, letting it prop on your shoulder. When the rain falls the propped up umbrella gets popped open keeping you from getting soaking wet. It’s fun to take a wet umbrella, hold it at a forty-five degree angle to the ground and spin it around and around. When you spin it around and around something magical happens. The drops of rain the umbrella has collected go flying off in a direction away from the umbrella holder. You can aim the umbrella where the drops spray someone or you can splatter the drops on the ground as you spin the umbrella ‘round and ‘round.
Even if you don’t own an umbrella you can still have fun in the rain. Shopping malls miraculously have parking spaces available closer to the door when it’s raining. The crowds are noticeably smaller. The joy of the mall intensifies as you experience less hustle and bustle. At church, better seats are available.
A sad note about rain is it sometimes cancels baseball games. While this is sad, though not to all wives, it does hold the potential of prolonging our great national pastime’s season and giving the baseball fan the rare double-header (two games on the same day – twice the fun!). Also, during warm weather after the rain departs the heat and humidity can smoother you making your world feel as humid as a rain forest.
Without rainfall, there wouldn’t be real green grass on the baseball fields, rain-checks from baseball games, manageable crowds at the mall, or great seats easily available at church. Rain makes the world a nice place. Why not enjoy the rainy days? Without rain the flowers would not grow. Without rain there would be no Fillet of Fish at McDonald’s Restaurants. Without rain there would be no people living.
The Word of God tell’s us of His Providence of rain and water in Psalm 65: 9 – 10
9 You visit the earth and water it,
You greatly enrich it;
The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
Rain is a gift from God. I love rain!
Written by Jimmie A. Kepler
“You Visit the Earth and Water It” by Jimmie A. Kepler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Photo Credit: ProfDEH at en.wikipedia, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publishes it under the following licenses:w:en:Creative Commonsattribution share alike This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: ProfDEH at en.wikipedia.
