RAINY MORNINGS

It is raining this morning. Pretty miserable. The rain has washed out my Friday morning golf round with some good friends. My alternative plan for today would have been yard work. Plan B is now highly unlikely. Plan C is to work on household finances. My inclination is to go to Plan D-curling up on the couch and reading a good book.

Rainy mornings often bring to mind a verse from the Bible. "The rain falls on the just and the unjust." In the arid climate of the Middle East where that word was first spoken, rain was something vital. Without rain, the crops did not grow. Without crops there was famine and poverty and hunger. Be rainless long enough there was death and extinction. Rain was considered one of the Creator God's most significant blessings.

Yet rain was not reserved for just those with whom God was pleased. That really was a pagan concept. The Hebrews understood that such a concept was too simplistic and perhaps even too materialistic. God was the sustainer God. He provided life to ALL.
Sometimes He withheld rain to make a point, to get their attention, to call them to repentance but was primarily a message to the people who at least CLAIMED that He was their God.

It was also a message that we should not assume that material blessings were the ultimate sign of God's favor. The farms of evil men were nourished by God as well as those of the devout. God's blessings are not limited to the material--like wealth and good health. For those who truly believe that God is the one to whom they entrust their lives, you learn to look beyond such things. You look the peace that comes from a clear conscience, the self-respect that comes from godly character, the blessing that comes from good deeds done anonymously. And the ultimate blessing ... that a life lived for God continues -- beyond death, to the eternal joy of living in His loving presence.