Waiting for the Rain

Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them. They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain. I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and the light of my face they did not cast down. I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.
Job 29:21–25
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Waiting for the Rain
If you were privileged to grow up on a farm, you understand what it means to wait for the rain.  The crops go in, the time and money have been spent, and now what is needed for a successful growing season is the rain.  When it comes there is joy and celebration. When it does not, sorrow and lament.  Job speaks of his past and the respect his fellow man showed towards him.  They waited for his words, his council, as the crops wait for rain.  This is not Job bragging, but his answering the accusations of his friends.  We too can find ourselves having to answer false accusations.  The devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh daily accuse us of not being good enough, of not believing the right things, and a myriad of other complaints.  And it takes its toll.  The lies and slander beat down upon us as the noonday sun on a parched field.  Our resistance begins to evaporate, and our parched mouths can’t form the words of defense.  And left to defend ourselves we would wither and blow away like the last sprig in a scorched field.  We wait desperately for the rain.  And in these times, we do well to remember God’s Word, “14 he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain” (Deuteronomy 11:14). God’s Word and Sacraments are His life-giving rains. The pour down upon us washing away the sin and doubt. Our spirits rise to meet the rain of God’s love as our faith is firmly planted in the good soil (Matthew 13:8). Christ has defeated sin, death, and the devil, and His blood nourishes us. This death and resurrection bring down a deluge of forgiveness and salvation, cleansing the arid soul of the old Adam and bring forth the new man, born of water and the Word. The reign of Christ has set us free.