Steady Rain

“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
    O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas;
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
    being girded with might;
who stills the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples,
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.” Psalm 65:5-13

“Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad.” Psalm 68:9a

Steady, soothing rain envelops the dark before dawn, tick ticking softly on leaves, tile, water, metal roof, wooden dock. Constant, punctuated occasionally by alto notes of a wind chime, a squirking frog, it falls, soaking further into a nearly saturated ground. But it’s silent there, where it soaks, taken in and down. No splash, no puddling, no run-off, only quiet absorption. Like God’s word, it may be audible in the falling, even loud in contact, but when it falls on a ready heart it often silently goes deep and does its good work giving, restoring, furthering life.

Messages from the Almighty are all around us. They twinkle in clear black skies, or arc in a prism bow. They unfold in a knowing smile of recognition or a quickening heart connection, an explosion of taste or a sudden discovered understanding. They speak from a pricked conscience, a stoked imagination, ignited creativity, a divine inspiration. And they drop like rain: awesome deeds and acts of mercy that softly shower our days with joy and enrich our lives.

O soul, are you in a drought of psyche or spirit, of health or direction? A constant drip drip of God’s word will make a difference. His river of wisdom is full for the taking, His insights settle ridges of uncertainty and rancor, and fresh mercies soothe frenzy, fear, and irritability. Steady rain of His truth revives the heart, enlightens vision, and gives joy in the most mundane of circumstances. Are we standing with eyes, mouths, hands open to receive? (Psalm 19:7-11; 81:10; Lamentations 3:22-23; James 1:5)

Are we daily in awe at the constant downpour of God’s works? Each one is worthy of it. Do we readily invite His visit to enrich our thinking and loving and giving, so we might overflow to the people around us? Does what we build, the way we travel, and all we endure, bear the mark of the abundant rain of His favor?

Lord, crown my days and years with Your gracious bounty, that I may spread joy and make You known in and through them all. (2 Corinthians 9:8)