Not too much. Not too little, but hopefully just right. No, this is not going to be a blog about the 3 bears. It’s summertime in the Southeast. I try each year to grow a good-sized garden. More often than not, these 2 things do not go together. That is, without rain. That fact has had me thinking a lot about rain lately.
I’ve written a few blog posts in the past about things I have learned while toiling in the garden. This year has been an odd one when it comes to weather. I planted most of my garden about the same time I usually do, around mid-May. Then it happened, dry weather. I found myself doing an evening ritual of watering to try and keep the soil moist so the seeds would germinate. Then we got some much needed rain. Cooking with gas! That is until the week of June 19th. Torrential rains for an entire week. Several inches worth and temperatures in the 50’s. Less than stellar weather for a budding vegetable garden.
“Just not the right amount” I thought to myself as I watched the standing water stand for days. Got me to thinking about life and how the rain scenario plays out there.
We seem to have floods and droughts in life as well. Dry times financially where we worry about paying the bills or maybe a drought appears with a health crisis or family issues. Then sometimes we see times of prospering or blessing that can sometimes overwhelm us with too much good rain. Sometimes that raise at work seems just what’s needed until we find ourselves owing more taxes because of it. Or a welcome promotion seems to answer so many problems until you find yourself working many more hours or traveling more. “Just never the right amount.”
Look no further than Job in the scriptures. He was wealthy, flooded with blessings if you will, until he wasn’t. He lost all, including his children, in a trial of his faith. Ultimately Job was restored and given even more than he had. Job leaves us with this thought in Job 2:10 “. . . shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” Why do we sometimes suffer drought in our lives? Why do we have those periods where we seem to be getting too blessed? Job understood that there are times of rain, even too much rain, and times of drought in life. As a believer, we understand that God has a plan, a plan that often doesn’t make sense to us.
You see, God controls the rain, and it usually is not according to our forecast, but His. So, the next time you are dodging a downpour of blessings or maybe find yourself suffering through a dusty dry spell, remember God has the measuring cup of rain for our lives in His hand and His forecast is never wrong.
Regular Guy Russ 