Never Empty-handed

In my previous post we looked at the marvelous gift of rain and that showers down on the earth every hour of the day and night, achieving a vast array of benefits in the environment. It augments alpine and arctic snow-packs, refreshes rainforests and woodlands, nourishes meadows and grain-fields and then by returns by evapo-transpiration into the skies to do it all again.

It’s the original re-use and re-cycle process built into the universe.
Some of the rain infiltrates into the ground and trickles down into sand and gravel aquifers that serve as storage beds for later use or flows down through streams, lakes and rivers back to the sea.

The prophet Isaiah noticed this variety of effects that come from the rain and the snow. He saw an intriguing parallel to the word and will of God. Both rain and word go out with intentionality; they achieves their purpose, they never return empty-handed when their assignment is done. Nothing is wasted; everything is purposeful:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

Isaiah's words were directed to the Jewish exiles who lived as strangers in Babylon for two generations. Exile is a frustrating detour in life where your rights and freedoms are withheld at the whim of others. For Israel it seemed that a foreign emperor had the last word.

But God had a greater word awaiting them, a promise that they would be coming home. As improbable as that sounded, God said, their desert would burst into bloom, just as the parched wilderness blossoms under the rain. God’s word would achieve its transformative purpose, both lifting the hopes of the exiles and convincing the Persian king to reverse imperial policy and send the prisoners home.

Throughout history God has rained down words with varied purpose – words of instruction and promise, rebuke and invitation. Page after page of scripture, Paul says, is “inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. … God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT

I wonder . . . how much do I welcome God’s rain in my life? Do I let it achieve God’s purpose in my heart? Does it shape my decisions? Am I listening to know the tasks God has for me?

If you feel like your life is in a long detour right now, bathe yourself in the rainfall of God’s word. Let the promises of Psalm 103 or Isaiah 55 or Romans 8 re-assure you today.

Photo Sources:
Forest: Free Market Design
Rain - unknown
Desert - author's collection