Once in a while, there ought to be a drought in our walk of life. There are no clouds to shelter our fragile body. Most of the brooks gone dry. For some, it didn’t appear as lasting a longer time than ours. Nevertheless, a night in the drought period seems like a year when the moist of rain is far from us. Seeing the clouds in those periods is our dream; even harder to have a dream, because we get carried away in the drought.
Waiting for the Rain:
Let it rain upon me, O Lord
Here I am trusting in you
Here I am waiting for you
Feed me in your loving arm, Lord.
You are able; you have done it
For your people in Your might
Waiting until the end of the dry spell
Ending the dry spell of my life
Healing my heart and my soul
Nourish me well for me to grow in you.
Unworthy, nothing in my hand
Your grace my only hope
It will rain again; it will not last forever when we are ready to see the goodness of the Lord. If at once it is declared by the Lord how can any creature question his action? The clouds will come back, little by little at once a time, nourishing the land and its inhabitants once again. Here is a brief accounts of the drought and the small clouds rising, which stuck in my heart, as I also wait for the rain in my walk of life.
Now, the reign of Ahab over Israel saw the worship of Baal, not the living God, which arouses the anger of the Lord. His sinning ways are recorded in the annals of the kings. He was unable to foresee what is going to happen. The Lord God announces the great drought through his servant Elijah over the land of Israel. (1 Kings 17)
Interestingly enough, here it must be noted that the true man of God was saved from the destruction of the drought. The Lord is kind to his people; he provides them their needs even in very mysterious ways. Elijah was fed by the ravens. Our drought sessions in our walk of life might be to see the marvel of the Lord.
No clouds in the sky:
While people took shelter in the shade of the clouds there are some people who are struggling in the drought. No clouds mean no rain; no rain means famine. And famine means death to all those who have lives. Some are killed in hunger while others kill others for self-benefit. The remaining, in other words, remnant wrestle with the Lord to give them rain again.
Looking for the clouds:
After a long time, in the third year, says the Bible. Well, three years is short when we are doing well in every possible sector. But for those who are waiting for the clouds to re-appear, as it sometimes occurred onto us, the waiting period is long. Yet it is the hope and the faith which must be well preserved; our hope must simply die down.
Here I want you to note the graceful effort of his servant. Many times in our walk of life we don’t have the time to look towards the sea. There are times we don’t even bother about looking for the clouds. Our hope of seeing the clouds after some years of drought seems pointless. It will take its own time if it’s raining soon; our feeble heart unwilling to give more effort. The infighting in our heart too much to bear now at this point.
Giving up, sometimes, seems to be the easiest way out; it requires really nothing at all. When we wanted to step up again, another pain barged in again. It usually happens with chronically sick people like me. Sometimes we don’t bother telling it to someone yet in our prayer we poured our heart out to God. In the process, we somehow ended up telling the tip of it to people as well.
Seeing the Clouds:
Now Elijah and his servant climbed to the top of Mount Carmel looking towards the sea.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported,
“A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
(1 Kings 18:43-46)
In our pursuit of the clouds that would bring rain, it would be a great relief. It is our duty to pursue the clouds as long as we can. The cloud, as small as a man’s hand, coming from God is great enough to end the three-year drought in the land.
The ensuing verse declared, Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the LORD came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Downpour from the Clouds:
Uncalled for, we happened to go through the dry spell in our walk of life. The little things that we called our own needed attention due to wear and tear. As for me, I am unable to look after myself as much as I wanted to. The dreams that I once had never really go away – to go for doctorate degrees furthermore (very personal, I can’t keep it to myself anymore after my several attempts failed during my working days; and now lacking financially). Some time ago, I thought I have seen the clouds yet the downpour doesn’t come yet.
The drought in our walk of life is a preparation for the filling of the downpour that is going to happen. The downpour may not necessarily be a blessing that can be seen but of the heart filling with joy. It could be the pouring of the living water quenching the thirst for as long as we walk on this earth.
Wait for the downpour of the rain
The downpouring from the Lord.
Get soaked in the holy spirit;
The dry spell with no future
We will look back in gaiety.
The living water will flow on,
Through the desert land again;
Giving life to the dry bones.
If you keep looking for it,
You will see the clouds rising.
In the shade of the clouds,
We will take shelter there
Until it rains again.
