rain

i love the rain...just love it.

last night it rained--poured actually--but i was asleep and missed it. :( and i so wish it would rain again right now and i could wrap up in my warm blanket, sit by the window and watch it while reading a good book and drinking something hot. but i doubt that'll happen, even if it's a little overcast.

thinking about the rain, my thoughts go back to my time in israel and the times it rained there. not just the times it rained while i lived there, but back in the days of old and what the significance of that was. rain was so important to the growth of the land, to the economy of israel...it still is i suppose. so many times in the bible, God talks about blessing the land by watering it, showing that this was a symbol of God's blessing as well as obedience of the nation. not that they had to obey and please him in order to grow the land--he causes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous--but rather this was a sign of God's covenant and promise to be with them always, and just as the land needed constant rain for growth, so also do we need to constantly depend on him for everything.

i notice that sometimes the rain can seem drizzly and ugly and depressing, but afterwards it clears the air so you can see the mountains more clearly. and so it is with life. though you go through tough spots, you have to keep in perspective that brighter days are ahead. days to love and serve others, days of increased joy and deeper understanding of who Jesus is because we'll have a more clear picture of him. and God tells us, assures us, " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declared the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13).