|
"CAN YOU HEAR THE RAIN?"
1 Kings 18:41-44: Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!" 42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his servant, "Go and look out toward the sea." The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, "I didn't see anything." Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, "I saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea."
I hear a mighty rainstorm coming, and I'm not talking about this weekend's weather forecast. The Lord led me to this Scripture earlier this week and I've just been thinking on it and praying about it to see what it is the Lord has to say to each of you reading this, this week. For those of you who read this each week I apologize that I'm not consistent with which day I send out a devotion. When I first started doing these I made a commitment that I wouldn't write a devotion just to write one or just to get it out at a certain time. So, that's why you never know what day of the week I will put this out. When the Lord gives me something, I write it and put it out.
This Scripture spoke to me this week. Some of you might be familiar with the translation that reads: "there is a sound of abundance of rain." There is a lot just in these few verses. During this time there was a great drought in the land. Elijah says he can hear the sound of rain, and not just a little, but a mighty rainstorm. He sent his servant out seven times to go and look and finally on the seventh time he reported that he saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea.
There are a couple of things the Lord spoke to me about this. The first is, are you in a drought? Does it feel like the ground around you is hard and everywhere you set foot leaves a cloud of dust that blinds the path in front of you? I'm writing to tell you I can hear a mighty rainstorm coming! The servant went seven times and didn't see anything until that seventh time, and even then all he saw was a small cloud but it was a huge sign of rain in a time of drought. Seven, the number of perfection and completeness. God is never late, He's never early, and his timing is perfect.
Maybe you've been looking for some sort of sign to the end of your drought. Keep looking, don't give up, and be persistent. It will be on that "seventh" time, so to speak, that you will see what might be just a small sign but that's all it's going to take. See, God is waiting for that "seventh" moment, a moment of perfect timing for him to bring the completeness of what you've been waiting for.
The next thing the Lord spoke to me about ties in with the past two weeks. The desire for a move of God that we have yet to see. Can you see a sign? Even if it is just a little cloud the size of a mans hand, its big enough to send rain. Listen and hear the sound of a mighty rainstorm coming that will completely saturate the spiritual ground we walk on. He's just waiting for that "seventh" moment, the perfect timing to bring it into completion. I said it last week and I'll say it again; The Church's best days are ahead of her.
Wherever you're at this week, don't give in, be persistent, keep looking for the sign of rain and listen closely. I think you'll hear what I hear, the sound of a mighty rainstorm coming!
Blessings ~ Steve
|
