by Graham Mol
I love the sound of gentle rain. As I sit here typing up this blog post now that our load shedding block has passed (thanks Eskom!) I am delighted by the sound of rain falling. This kind of weather brings happy memories of my journey with the Lord. The drizzle reminds me of sitting on the porch of the mess hall at Heron Ridge where we were on a Church Family Camp. While the drizzle fell we each found a space to sit quietly to do our morning devotion before gathering inside to share in breakfast.
I also associate this kind of weather with the time I was in our Church youth group, meeting at our youth leader’s house for weekly fellowship. It must have been a rainy month and as a result when I think of this weather I think of the time we shared in God’s word, growing in wisdom and stature ourselves as we laughed, prayed and cried together.
There is a worship song that goes: “Mercy is falling, is falling, is falling. Mercy it falls as the sweet spring rain” The life giving rain that falls is often a reminder of God’s grace and provision. In the Old Testament we read of times that God brought drought as judgement against the wickedness of His people. The return of the rain would then signify His forgiveness and mercy.
In the book of Deuteronomy there is a song of Moses that begins this way:
Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants. (Deuteronomy 32:1-2)
God’s word is like the fresh rain that brings nourishment and life to us. Whether we receive this word through our own devotional reading of the Bible, or through the community of others as we teach, love and support one another, it soaks into our souls bringing refreshment and newness of life.
God Bless
Graham
Wonderful word Graham. Also thankful for the rain that so reminds us of our need for us to be thankful to the Lord for never ending Grace and Mercy.