I love rain, well… a little rain at appropriate times. It starts when you can smell the coming rain in the air and know it is imminent.
A singer named Eddie Rabbit wrote a song in 1980,
“Well, I love a rainy night
It’s such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain
On my face
Taste the rain on my lips”
As a child it was a special treat to go play in a summer rain, damming up miniature rivers created as excess water sought lower ground. Throwing your head back as the cool water was such a relief from the oppressive heat that came before. Sticking your tongue out to catch drops and swallow. It seemed to always follow an adult admonition about ring worms and I remember one occasion of that unmistakable round red ring. Not sure what old remedy was used to cure it, but I still have two feet, so It must have been effective.
Living water
To state the obvious, rain is water, (Duh, right). Water is Life is the motto of the Augusta Utilities Department. It is estimated man can only live between three to five days without water, so the motto rings true.
So vital to life is water that Jesus compared His water to a spring welling up to eternal life.
John 4:14 –14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[a] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
This scripture obviously refers to a spiritual water of life flowing from God the Father.
Back to rain
What a joy when God decides to unleash the water from the sky. It washes the air, the trees, the grass and cleans everything. It cleanses like nothing else on earth. It turns the grass green, makes the tree leaves vital again and flowers bloom. The rainy days make me appreciate the dry days more.
A good rain purges the southern pines of yellow pollen, often leaving a yellow stream as proof.
Sure, it makes me have to wash my car, spray for bugs, empty cans and buckets everywhere to prevent mosquitoes, and can upset the balance of the water in my pool. But when it doesn’t rain, my yard turns brown, dust is everywhere, and the flowers start to die.
I can tolerate the former for the latter.
Rain or no rain? I chose rain. I prefer it in moderation not excess, and thank God for His rainbow sign promising the Earth will never again be destroyed by water. Unfortunately, my opinion doesn’t matter in this regard to the creator of rain. I submit to the wisdom of an almighty God who created Heaven and Earth. And therefore, I love rain…..
Thunderous power
Many times the rain is accompanied by the deep thunder following lightening that sounds like a combination of bass drums and a section of timpani rolling from the east to the west. What a display of the awesome power unleashed by a system created by an almighty God.
Rain sayings
Any of you have lived through a drought certainly have a greater appreciation for the occasional shower.
Rain does give reason for some curious sayings such as:
“Its raining cats and dogs” – the meaning is clear, the imagery silly
“When it rains, it pours” – stolen by Morton Salt
“Save for a rainy day” – farmers couldn’t work the fields during rain and needed to save for such event
“Come rain or shine” – something was going to take place regardless. Same as “Hell or highwater
“Rain on his parade” – to squash someone else’s joy
“Everything’s right as rain” – this simply reinforces my sentiment
And remember the saying when it rained while the sun shined?
“The devil must be beating his wife”
Storms
Obviously, I differentiate between the gentle spring rains and downright storms. Storms can be explored another day. Maybe it’s too soon after we all are still recovering from Helene. So many parallels to life can be drawn between storms and life.
But if you don’t already, learn to appreciate the gentle rains that form to our west and decide to release over us.
They do much more good than bad.
