April 28 devotion

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Overlooked blessings…spring rain

Psalm 147:8

4/28/20

Pastor John C. Berg

He is the one who covers the sky with clouds.  He determines rain for the earth.  He makes grass sprout on the mountains.

This is your daily devotion for April 28^th.  Overlooked blessings…I’m sure many of you today are thinking the same thing I am.  You’re enjoying this spring rain.  It can be an overlooked blessings.  But when it doesn’t rain for a while and we have a day like this we remember what a blessing rain is.  My lawn did not look this green even yesterday. 

Spring rains are such a blessing.  They’re a blessing from God.  Psalm 147:8 He is the one who covers the sky with clouds.  He determines rain for the earth.  He makes grass sprout on the mountains.  Our world and our lives can see like so much chaos.  Bad things happen unexpectedly.  So it is easy for us to miss how much structure and order there is in this fallen world, tainted by sin.  Still, God sends rain.  God makes the crops grow.  God determines this incredibly complex system so that we can live, breathe, eat and even enjoy life in a world that is certainly less than perfect.

Rain of course reminds us of something else, the most famous rain fall of all time.  A giant tremendous deluge that wiped the earth clean.  God preserved Noah and his family.  He preserved the promise of a Savior through that family.  But then God also did this amazing thing when he gave us a symbol, a naturally occurring symbol that when we see it, it’s a reminder in the sky of how much God loves us. Genesis 9:12-15 ¹² God also said, “This is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you that I am giving for all generations to come. ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be the sign of a covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring a cloud over the earth and the rainbow is seen in the cloud, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of every sort, and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

I’m sure this particular rainfall is not going to last for days or weeks.  But even if it did go on and on you and I could be confident that God would not destroy the world with a flood.  Nor will he allow a pandemic to completely wipe out humanity.  We don’t need to fear earth-destroying events.  God will destroy the earth, but after Jesus has returned and raised us from the dead.  The he will give us a new earth.  Personally I think there will still be rain, because isn’t rain a beautiful thing, a reminder, just like the end of rain is a reminder, of God’s great love for us.  Don’t overlook that blessing.

We pray:  Heavenly Father, we thank you for a simple blessing today. Thank you for this rainfall.  Now things will green up, the trees will start to bud and spring will come in full force, remind us that all life comes from you. Amen.