"Hearing" the rain

            Several years ago, my husband and I went to St. Louis’s Shakespeare festival in Forest Park, site of the 1904 World’s Fair.  Honestly, I do not remember which play was to be performed that night, but what I do remember is the terrible storm that hit about 7:55 pm, just minutes before the main attraction of the evening was to begin.  We had attended previous productions at this wonderful outdoor setting, but on this night, we had brought an orphaned teenage girl who struggled with some serious problems and lived in a group home not far from our house.  She definitely had not been to anything like what this evening would present to her.

            The weather forecast for the night had not looked promising, and the coming storm loomed ever closer.  Still, we sat on the grass waiting until the wind started blowing rather fiercely, and the threatening skies began to pour rain.  We raced for the car and watched the impressive lightening display fill the skies all the way home.  I had not been “caught” in a storm of that severity for quite some time.

            That night, it didn’t require psychic abilities—or arthritic symptoms-- to know that rain was on the way; the evidence of the coming storm was all around us.  However, the approaching rain was not something we heard until it actually started pouring.  This seems to be the way rain works; once it begins in small or large quantities, the sound it makes announces its arrival.

            Something different is described in the story of Elijah, the prophet, in the Old Testament.  God had informed Elijah before the dramatic encounter with the prophets of Baal that there would be rain in Israel:  “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth” (1 Kings 18:1).  After Elijah won the “contest” with the false prophets, he turned to King Ahab and said, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain” (1 Kings18:41).  Continuing with this assurance, the prophet prayed, asking his servant to go check the sky for clouds seven times.  God had revealed his plan about three years of draught and then rain coming, so Elijah had no doubt as to what God’s will was in this matter.  Still, he had to pray seven times, and he had to believe the rain would come just as God had told him.

            Recently, in this tale of Elijah and his expectation of God’s promised rain, I have become aware of another insight into the work of God and the faith that “sees” the end God has in mind before the physical manifestation of that end actually comes to pass.  Nearing the part of the chapter describing the persevering prayer for rain by this very tested and proven man of God, Elijah says that he hears “the sound of an abundance of rain.”  This must be a profession of faith—there are no clouds, there is no real sound of any rain falling at the moment he makes this remark.  In effect, Elijah is saying, “I believe God will do what He has told me about His plans.”

So, the question for us today seems to be, “Are we listening, are we seeking God and wanting to know what good plans He might have to work in our own lives in our own times?”  Surely, we live in a world that very much needs to see miraculous demonstrations of the compassion and love God has for all of us.  If God has not changed—and the Bible clearly states He has not (“He never changes or casts shifting shadows” James 1:17 NLT)—then we should expect Him to reveal glimpses of His good plans and then supernaturally give us the faith to believe these things will happen just as He has said they would.

            About 300 prophecies of the coming of Jesus, our Savior, can be found in the Bible.   For example, He was “born of a virgin;” He “carried away” our iniquities and infirmities, thus becoming the promised Messiah.  God is, indeed, the same, revealing to listening hearts the good He would like to do for each one of us.  May God help us to be better listeners and to be more earnestly prayerful people who persevere in our petitions until the expected answers arrive—just as Elijah persevered until God’s words became rain-producing clouds.   May each of us take the time to seek God and “hear” His plans and promises, and then, to truly believe.