I Hear the Sound of Rain -- Yvonne Hicks

This is a word I submitted to The Watch of the Lord™ three years ago - but as I drove home in the torrential rains and storms that we have been having this week all I could do was laugh. It seems God has heard our prayers for rain that we sent up this past weekend.

As I was driving to work one morning this week, I started to hear the sound of rain. I immediately heard this song “I hear the sound of the abundance of rain, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain, and I hear the sound of the abundance of rain…” I asked the Lord for the rest of it and I heard “It’s beginning to rain.” Later I found the passage in 1 Ki. 18 where “after a long while” the Lord told Elijah that it was going to rain. Three years earlier God instructed Elijah to curse the land and command no rain because of the unrighteous king, Ahab. Now, Elijah tells King Ahab to “go eat and drink for there is the sound of heavy rain.” This is at a time when the famine is so severe that the king had sent his servants across the land in order to find enough grass to keep the animals alive. Everything and every water source was dry.

There was little evidence to engender hope for a change in the weather, but at Elijah’s word, it rained! First there was the spiritual sound, then the appearance of “a cloud the size of a man’s hand,” …then the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came… and with that, “the power of the LORD came upon Elijah …”.

I began to think about the members of our church who have been going through a drought in their finances or their other circumstances – especially those that have been waiting for a very long time. I thought about how, unlike Ahab, they had been living righteously and serving here faithfully through it all. I knew the Lord was thinking on them when He said to me, “It’s beginning to rain”.

I began to look further for more Scriptures on rain and I was very, very encouraged: Rain is …

Gen. 2:5 – a sign of new life
Lev 26:4 – The Lord’s response to our obedience
Deut 11:11 - a sign of the Lord's caring & His watchfulness over us
Deut 28:12; 32:2 & Heb 6 - a sign of the Lord's blessing
1 King 18 - a sign of the Lord's sovereignty
Ps 72 & is 45 - a sign of righteousness flourishing & prosperity abounding
Ps 147 – The Lord’s response to our worship
Prov. 16 - a sign of the King's pleasure and favor
Is 30 - a sign of the Lord's gracious direction and healing
Is 55: a sign of the power of His word not returning to Him void Zech 10 - a sign of His provision and comfort
Acts 14: a sign of His kindness
James 5: a sign of a God who hears and answers prayer
 

“I hear the sound of the abundance of rain, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain, glory hallelujah, it’s beginning to rain.”