Rain

Devotion 1 – Rain

Genesis 2:4-6 (New International Version)
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [a] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [b] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [c] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground-

Genesis 9: 12-16

12And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
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Today, for some reason I have rain on my mind. Maybe it’s because I’m standing knee-deep in the Watauga, water dripping off the hood of my rain jacket, “cheater glasses” completely unusable, wondering why I’m trying to catch one more fish when I could be home drinking coffee warm, safe and DRY. This is exactly the type of day when my friends, the non-fishing kind, look at me and just shake their heads. But it’s a day on the river – full of promise for the next big fish caught on the fly I tied after my “perfect” presentation - and, it beats working.
I remember that God made the rain for a purpose. Part of his perfect plan to create this perfect world I inhabit for now. What some people call the natural order of things I call God’s creation. Beginning in Genesis God makes his creation plan very clear – his world needs water for life. Before there was man there were streams – God’s plan – before man knew God – even before man – Gods plan.
In life rain falls. Sometimes showers, sometimes storms, and sometimes floods that cover our lives. But at the end there is always the rainbow – the covenant made by God for us. For Christians that covenant is the promise and life of Jesus and his payment for our eternal life – that’s our rainbow. Always and forever.
So, I’m standing knee deep in the Watauga, water dripping off the hood of my rain jacket, smiling.