How many children have said, “Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day!” Rain can spoil our plans if we expect to be outdoors. But it never did any good to say that rhyme... there’s no use talking to the rain. But if you knew the One who controls the rain, then that would be different!
Well, Tommy personally knew that One who makes the rain. So instead of saying that rhyme, he talked to the One who controls it. Do you know who that is? It is God. “The living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein... gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:15,1715And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: (Acts 14:15)
17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. (Acts 14:17).
Tommy and his father had plans one day to take some young friends to the zoo. The two young friends came from a poor family and had never been to the zoo before. They had heard about lions, elephants and giraffes, but had never seen any of them. The zoo, however, was about an hour’s drive away, and by the time they got near the zoo there were big dark thunderclouds overhead.
“I’m afraid we’ve come on the wrong day,” Tommy’s father said. “It looks like rain.”
By the time they pulled into the parking lot at the zoo, the sky was covered with clouds and it had begun to rain. They waited for a while in the parking lot, but there was no sign of the rain letting up.
“We might as well go home,” Tommy’s father said. Everyone was disappointed. Tommy didn’t think about the rhyme, “Rain, rain, go away,” but he did think about God, his Father, who controls the rain.
He had read that Bible verse, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:88Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8).
“Let’s pray about it,” he suggested. His father didn’t think there was much use praying about it. It looked like an all-day rain, and the two visitors with them were only just beginning to learn to pray to God. If the rain didn’t stop, maybe they would be discouraged about praying. But Tommy knew that God could stop the rain if it was His will. So his father agreed, and Tommy prayed, asking God to stop the rain so they could go in to the zoo.
Nothing seemed different when he finished praying. The rain kept falling and the sky looked just as black. They waited for a while longer, but finally his father said, “I think we’d better just go home.” So he backed out the car and they started for home. They did keep looking at the sky.
They hadn’t gotten very far before Tommy noticed a little blue in the dark sky. “Daddy! The rain’s going away!” he exclaimed. They kept looking at the sky, and it did seem that the rain was going to let up. God, the One who controls the rain, had answered Tommy’s prayer. The two young people who were just learning to pray saw that God really does answer prayer. So they turned around again and went back to the zoo. They spent a happy day seeing so many of the different animals that God created.
Has God ever answered any of your prayers? Have you ever talked to Him? This was not the first time that Tommy had talked to God. Several years before he had come to the Lord Jesus and asked Him to wash his sins away. The Bible says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13). Even if God always gave you sunny days, you would still have to leave this world some day. Just having sunshine or rain whenever you like will not get you into heaven. If your prayers have always been just asking God for things you want, then you have missed something far more important. You need to ask Him to save you from your sins. Jesus suffered on the cross and died so that He can, not just give you happy days on earth, but more importantly, give you the forgiveness of sins and a home with Him in heaven. Life is short, but heaven is forever.
The Bible also warns about people who would not listen to God or turn from their evil ways. It says, “He gave them hail for rain.” Psalm 105:3232He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. (Psalm 105:32). The rain, of course, is good for the crops, the trees and flowers. But hail can damage an entire crop in a short time. It is a serious thing to ignore the salvation that God offers. It was a long time ago that God sent those wicked people hail instead of rain. But the Bible also warns that after the Lord Jesus comes to take all the Christians to heaven, God is going to punish His enemies by sending the largest hail that has ever fallen. “And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent.” Revelation 16:2121And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (Revelation 16:21). A talent is about 55 pounds! How much damage will that do when pieces of hail weighing 55 pounds crash through houses?
Where will you be then? Will you be a friend of the One who controls the rain and be safe in heaven? Or will you be left behind and see giant hail falling from heaven? God loves you and wants to save you from the judgment that is coming. The Lord Jesus said, “Verily, verily [truly, truly], I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
ML-10/06/1991