He Prepares the Rain
When I was in Kindergarten, I believed that I would grow up, go to Harvard University, study Meteorology, obtain a Ph.D., and work for The Weather Channel. I loved everything about the weather. I loved watching the Severe Weather Outlook during hurricane season as Stephanie Abrams and Jim Cantore reported live from the scene of high winds and torrential rains, preparing those of us at home for what was coming. I thought the more I knew of the storm, the less I would be afraid of it when it actually came because I could say, “Yes, there’s the 70 mph winds that are coming, and the higher the winds the closer the storm is to making landfall. Yes, there’s the heavy rains and wind. Yes, we are now in the eye of the storm and have, give-or-take, an hour before the other side of the wall hits us.” I wanted to prepare myself (and others) so that I could overcome my fear — my fear, that is, of things beyond my control.
I learned more about weather patterns in school, where I was taught what causes rain to fall to the earth. Simply put, water evaporates from where it rests in rivers, lakes, streams, oceans, and puddles, condensates and forms clouds, and then precipitates and falls back to the earth. Then the cycle begins again.
Did you know, though, that as far as we can understand through the study of other planets, that our planet is the only one with an atmosphere conducive for the rain we experience? Some planets experience deadly acid rain and others experience a phenomena described as “diamond rain.”
How did the water cycle start? Did the earth come up with its own idea to cycle water from ground to sky to ground again and again? Or was there Another who created the earth to do this?
The Waters
Scripture tells us that, in the beginning, “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). On the Second day, God separated the waters from the waters and created the “Heavens” we refer to as sky (Genesis 1:6-10).
Genesis 2 records that the Earth used to be watered by a mist that rose up from the earth, “for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land… and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground… a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden” (Genesis 2:5-6, 10).
But why? Because “...There was no man to work the ground” (Genesis 2:5).
From these words, we can begin to see that the rain was created for us to enjoy, to help us to care for the earth and take care of it in the way that God commanded in Genesis 1-3. In Genesis 6-9, we also see how the rain was used as a judgment for the sin of the world. Only one time has God used rain to destroy mankind, and he promised, by creating a bow in the sky, he will never do that again (Genesis 9:12-17). But of course, at the end of the day, there’s nothing that we can really do to control the rain. It all relies upon God.
He Prepare the Rain
When God created man, he prepared the rain for us so we could do what he created us to do, and today, he is still preparing the rain.
The other day, I was reading Psalm 147. When I got to verse 8, I stopped when I read these words: “He prepares the rain.” He prepares the rain. And I thought about it all day. I thought about growing up wanting to be a meteorologist and watching the weather, dying to know what chance there was it would rain, when it would happen, how to prepare because rain, like all weather, is so unpredictable within our finite understanding of the atmosphere. We can study and study and get really good at picking out patterns in the way things happen, but it will always, always be a prediction -- a guess at what will happen.
But “he prepares the rain.” Nothing is a prediction for him. He doesn’t have to study patterns and weather maps because “he prepares the rain.” There is no rain that falls without him knowing, no star created that he has not named, no hair that falls that he has not numbered. We cannot wrap our minds around this, but we can speak this to our souls when we’re feeling tempted to try and find patterns in order to put life hacks on God. It cannot be done. He is The Original and he has created all things, and all things for their time. He prepares the rain.
