How beautiful is the sound! The sound of rain after a long dry spell! We have all been experiencing the high temperatures of summer, and the need for rain. As much as we have planted flowers and vegetables and taken care of them, now we have to water, water, water them to keep them alive.
Somehow our watering just isn’t the same as God’s watering the world through His blessing of rain. I lost a couple of flowers in pots on the deck and front porch, even though we all tried to keep them alive.
The garden suffered, too. We had trouble with the water hoses bursting or leaking after some use and the sprinklers breaking. Seems like they don’t last long, like they used to. Uh oh, I just wrote an oldism! (Like they used to ...)
The Bible talks about rain and compares it to God’s blessing showering down on us. Isaiah has a beautiful verse we can take comfort in: “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord have created it.”
Hosea also tells us: “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and breakup your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers His righteousness on you.”
What does righteousness mean? Well, to be “right” in God’s eyes! We can examine our character, our attitudes, our actions, our values, and what we say to see if is a reflection of God and his character and teaching. Because God gave us the absolute truth of what is right and wrong, we align ourselves to Him, to Christ. We don’t align ourselves to society, the village, or philosophers, or a good person we know — the standard of rightness is Christ. How can we know if we are sowing righteousness in our lives? Pray for the Holy Spirit to show us truth about ourselves and how we are doing in our Christian walk. If we ask God for help, He will give us help. What do farmers or gardeners do before they sow seeds? They prepare the soil, right? The break up the hard, tough soil and make it soft and able to receive the seed.
Examine your heart. Examine your conscience. Examine your concept of who you are. Are you hard-baked soil or broken and yielding to God?
We think to be broken is bad. However, to be broken can be the perfect condition for God to work in our lives! To be broken, humble, submissive, honest before God allows Him to begin work in us to bring us closer and closer to his righteousness. Just like dry soil seems to hunger for rain and water, we need to be the same.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” — Matthew 5:6
Let’s pray for spiritual showers of righteousness and love from God for ourselves, our community and our country.
