© 2019 Don Pinson | [Download]
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“It’s hot!”  I must have heard that a hundred times this summer—including all the times I said it to myself.  The small amount of rain over a lot of weeks is quickly moving us toward a crisis with our water tables.

But while we’re quick to complain about the dry weather, we’re much slower to consider why the rain has been withheld.  I hear Pastors sometimes quote that “God sends the rain on the just and the unjust”, as Jesus stated.  And that is His normal course of action.  However, there are other Bible passages that shed further light on this subject.  For instance, 2nd Chronicles 6:26, when King Solomon prays to God and says, “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against [God]…”  Solomon obviously believed rain could be withheld because God’s people were in sin.  This was also proven with the prophet Elijah.  God told Elijah that He would withhold the rain because of the wickedness of King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel.  Moses warned that the stopping of rain was a way God would get the attention of His people.  He said in Deuteronomy 28, “But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God…that all these curses shall come upon you…And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.  The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 23-24)

Could it be that the reason for our drought is our sin?  While you may not be aware of sin in your life, consider this.  In America, we kill thousands of children every day by abortion.  We often turn our head at the growing plague of sodomy; even Christians are often now accepting it as “normal”.  Most of us hardly consider the child molestation that’s happening daily right here in our region.  We have so much addiction to alcohol and drugs that neither school nor workplace can function properly.  Even worse is that we don’t understand why all this is happening.  That’s because most of us are ignorant of the way God thinks and teaches us to live.  We basically ignore His plan for us and live for pleasure, prestige, or possessions.  Now is there a different picture coming into view as to why we’re having drought?

What can we do?  We can learn a lesson from the Pilgrims!

In 1623, though their spring crop was looking great to begin with, the rain suddenly stopped, and there was hardly a drop for twelve weeks (Sound familiar?).  They finally recognized that God must be trying to get their attention about something.  They knew well His promises to bless the land with rain if they were obedient to Him.  They likewise knew His promise to withhold the rain if they slipped into sin.  So they set aside a day to fast and pray about this.  Their time together quickly turned into a time of repentance toward God.  They confessed their sin to God and to one another, asking not only his forgiveness, but also the forgiveness of their neighbors for wrong attitudes and, quote, “little sins” we hardly consider.  Things like hoping their crop was better than their neighbor’s.

That God heard and forgave cannot be denied, because, though the morning sky was as clear and hot as ever, by five o’clock when they left the meeting, the clouds were beginning to gather, and a few hours later the gentle rain came and continued off and on for two weeks!  Their crops were saved—and so were their Indian neighbors, who, when they saw the reality of the Pilgrim’s God, began to turn to this Christ who cared about His people.

So, do we need to repent?  It’s been awful dry!

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children!  And you won’t like what that brings to you.  I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.