by Fenny West
The Rain of His Blessing
Comes, when He reigns.
Taken His rightful place
His sceptre of Grace accepted.
This rain comes to refresh.
comes to water the fallow ground, wash and reassure
it comes as a token of His kindness.
It comes to gladden the planting of the Lord-
Those planted in the house of the Lord
Called to flourish in the courts of our God.
It makes them radiant in the dark.
It nourishes them, causing them to bud and bear fruit
Much, much fruit, even at old age.
It makes them remain fresh and green
Youth renewed, that He might be glorified.
The rain of blessings comes as vapours of praise
Rise up to heaven and greet His nostrils
As a sweet smell savour.
Showers of healing deliverance
Salvation, provision, direction
Come pouring down.
Then there is destructive rain of a frown
That comes as a judgement for disobedience
Coming with hail and thunder
Coming with a vengeance.
We ignore it or explain it away at our peril.
But the wise will discern and learn and turn.
Come let us brighten the face of our King
As we love him, serve him glorify him and sing to him
Obey him and praise him,
His rain will come as a favour
Because when He reigns, it sure rains.
Before the first rain Noah had never seen rain before yet when he was warned of what to come, took God at His word and started building the ark. Over 100 years passed yet there was no rain . But Noah kept on believing until it came to pass.
and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, Gen2:5
even days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." Gen.7:4
Others must have laughed at him; called him names but God vindicated his servant in the end.
Have you heard from God? And does the promise sound ridiculous like that of Noah?
Is there anything too hard for the Lord? God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent. Has He spoken and will He not do it has He promised and will He not make it good? Against hope we were told, Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as deadsince he was about a hundred years oldand that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Rom4:18-21NIV
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him Gen.21:1-2
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."
In the fullness of time God fulfilled His promise and the windows of heaven were opened and the rain came pouring down. Let God be true and let every man be a liar!
And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. Gen.7:12NIV
The rain stopped as the floodgates of heaven closed.
Elijah stopping rain for 3years
Elijah had heard from God and boldly declared:
"As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word
How audacious, ..at my word. But he was a man under authority, knew whom he represented and was in constant touch with Him. It happened just like he said. King Ahab took notice that there was a man of God in town
After the three years Elijah prayed again for the rain to fall and it did. But he prayed earnestly and it looked as if nothing was happening. He refused to give up until the answer came in a deluge, because he had heard from the Lord.
After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."1Ki.18:1
And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain. 1Ki.18:41NIV
The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
1Ki18:44-45NIV
When God is behind you, you will never be behind.
Let the vapour of praise and worship rise
In the rain cycle vapour rising, then cools and condenses and later falls as rain. Job: can any one understand the forming of the clouds?
"He draws up the drops of water, which distil as rain to the streams;
28 the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind Job36:27-28NIV
As we praise God, our praises rise up. God inhabits the praises of His people. Our praises delight His heart. Weakens our enemies and gives us victory.
So let the high praises of God be in your mouth and a two-edged sword in your hands and let us march unto victorys side right into Canaan Land.
Carman sang: Lords send the rain pour out your spirit.
let the fire fall heal us one and all.
Fall afresh on me.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you
Hosea 10:12KJV
Destructive rain-when Rain comes as judgement Ex.9:33
Just as rain is symbolic of blessings it can also symbolise judgement as Pharaoh found out.
Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; 24 hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fieldsboth men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. 2. Ex9;24-25, 2Chro.6:26
The rain of trial
What ever we have heard will be tested. It is the trial of life that serves as a purifying agent. It reveals where we stand, how grounded we are. And if our faith is anchored on the word of God, evidenced from our obedience, we can be sure of victory.
4"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.Matt.7:24-25
Rain of Blessing as a Test.
Also after every blessing comes the test. The question is: will you and I pass that test. Often the blessing carries us away.
We focus on the blessings and forget the blesser.
We get married to His hand and forget His face. We get enamoured with His presents and are lukewarm or aloof to His presence. But we must realise tat our God is a jealous God. He would not tolerate any other god in our lives.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
The Rain of Revival
The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost can be described as the rain of revival. Peter declared: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
It brought a time of refreshment in Gods presence. Those who were once timid, cowering, suddenly became bold witnesses. Their scriptural prowess became phenomenal as we see in Peters sermon. God was walking among them in a big way, saving as many as should be saved. Even when threatened, imprisoned and warned not to preach in that name, they were undaunted. When they were released they went back preaching, avowing to obey God and not man. That same empowering that came from the Spirit of God charged their praying power that when they were done, the building where they were shook. Acts 4:
Anew dimension of the rain of the Spirit flooded the jail where Paula and Silas were held after they had been flogged and hands and feet put in chains and dumped in that prison in Phillipi. And at midnight as their praise rose as vapour to the throne of Grace, the rain, (the blessing) of God fell. And as it did their chains fell off. Their attitude thereafter also led to the conviction of the jailer, who was so touched that he enquired, What must I do to be saved.
However, rain revival can be checked or stopped by sin as we see in Acts 5 when Ananias and Sapphira tempted God by deception. There was instant judgement as they fell down dead. Peter said they had lied not to man but to God.
Rain has its season and we need to wait for that season.
I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Lev.26:4
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heartGal.6:9
Then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. Deut.11:14
Does the vision tarry, wait for it.
At the appointed time it shall speak and not lie. It shall not delay a single day.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay.Hab2:3NIV
Waiting time is not a wasted time. Gods time may not be our time. But His time is the best time. While we wait we should be doing things according to His will where we are at. That is active waiting not passive waiting doing nothing. Our times are in His hands. He is never late.
These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season. Ps.104:27
The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. Ps145:15
And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Luke12:24
. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,.
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint
Isa40:30-31
Absence of rain in its season may be the result of disobedience.
This is the rain of judgement
When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them 1Ki8:35
The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed Deut28:24
Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. Deut.11:17
This is a lesson for us as we journey into our Promised Land. For the Israelites it was a physical rain, but to us this can be symbolic: the Lords anger will burn against us and the heavens will be shut so that there will be no blessings, no fruitfulness no righteousness. An example is the United Kingdom where a popular politician has popularised the phrase: we dont do God. In other words, God has no business in our business.
If we ignore or disobey the Lord, we cannot expect his blessings. We may have material goods but spiritually dead. .
See the blessing of obedience- incredible.
The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. Deut.28:12
The blessing of the work of your hand is prosperity. Lending and not borrowing is finding your financial freedom from the wisdom God will give you. You will be making wise investment decisions, sowing in the right places, preparing for your harvest even before they come, and become a distribution centre.
Doctrinal rain. The rain of revelation
This the rain of his teaching falling on us as He raises anointed, seasoned, deep-rooted solid teachers of His word and we prepare our heart to soak it all up.
Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.Deut.32:2
The result will be rapid growth in the grace of our Lord. We bear much fruit of the spirit- love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience, self-control, faithfulness, goodness, righteousness, hospitality, fervour (zeal), diligence, integrity, faith, humility etc.
As we allow this rain to fall on us we become productive, bearing fruit even in our old age.
Miraculous supply when there was no rain because of previous obedience
The widow of Zeraphath by her act of faith and obedience opened a miraculous window of continuous blessing amidst famine.
or this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "1Kings 17:14
God will meet your needs in time of famine and recession. Just keep being obedient to Him.
Rain as a sign of blessing for repentance
When we are repentant and turn from our evil ways, our God is merciful. His anger last for a moment but His favour last for a life time. He would not turn away a contrite heart. He would send the rain of His favour and blessings as we turn to Him, not just to get the blessing but to be truly reconciled to Him and having Him as our first love.
then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance 2Chro6:27
4 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2Chro.7:14
God is the author, originator of rain.
He is sovereign, has full control of the rain clouds. He decrees it and it pours. Our God is a sovereign God. He is in charge, in total control.
..when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, Job28:6
He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside. Job5:10
He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour. Job 36:7
Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.
Rain of His kindness
Rain can also be symbolic of Gods kindness towards us.
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy Acts 14:17
Prayer and revival rain
A fervent, passionate prayer like that of Elijah can turn the tide and bring about revival or rain. God is looking for people who will consistently stand in the gap between Him and the people. These are the repairers of breeches, intercessors of the land. They are often behind the scenes, unsung heroes and heroines who labour and travail between the porch and the altar. They wrestle with God like Jacob: I will not let go until you bless us. And God let them win. You can be one of them.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years
James5:17-18
Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Brightening the Face of the King
When a king's face brightens, it means life; his favour is like a rain cloud in spring. Prov.16:15
There is no doubt that everyone likes the rain of Gods presence, approval, revival, kindness, blessing, miraculous supply and forgiveness. But we must first of all pay the price for the prize. We must let the vapour of praise rise, repent, brighten the face of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and guest what? We will have superabundant lives radiating His glory and splendour irrespective of our tests. In fact our tests will bring testimonies, our battles blessing. His favour will rest on us like a rain cloud in spring.
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