Rain

“You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water.” —Psalm 65:9

 Camas Prairie, Idaho, photo by Josh Roper

Creation is a signpost pointing to God, but tragically, many people only look at the sign. C. S. Lewis observed that the modern world conditions us to a “doglike” state of mind. If, for example, you point at your dog’s food dish and say “eat,” he will stare at your finger, confusing the sign with the thing signified.

David saw rain as a sign that points us to God's eternal love for growing things. Rain is God "visiting the earth" to water and enrich it (65:9).

Showers sweep across the plowed ground, "watering its furrows, settling its ridges, softening the clods of dirt, blessing it with growth." Rain is God, "walking" through the earth like Johnny Appleseed (a US pioneer apple farmer and folk hero), leaving behind His bounty: "The paths on which He walks overflow with goodness" (65:10, 11).

Here's a dimension of truth you may have lost. It’s a vision, a perspective, a way of looking at things. It’s the capacity to see through things to what’s behind them rather than just at them.

Rain reveals the hand of God if we have eyes to see it. The little hills, the pastures, the valleys take in God's love and "shout for joy!" (v. 13).

So can we!

David Roper