Your Rain Is Coming

I have recently found myself reading through the Old Testament as I discovered that I do not know much scripture from that area of the Bible. I am currently working through Deuteronomy, and the Lord gave me a special word from my reading that I wanted to share.

Deuteronomy mostly consists of Moses talking to the Israelites and explaining to them the commands that God has required of them. It outlines a lot of explicit rules and carries many repeated themes throughout. In chapter 28, we read of the blessings that you can expect to receive from obeying God’s commands, as well as the curses that will be placed on you should you disobey. There was a lot of information that jumped out at me when I read this chapter, but two particular verses caught my attention:

“The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them.”

– Deuteronomy 28:12-13

I have struggled a lot with feeling as though my hard work never pays off. It always seems like no matter how hard I try, no matter how good my motivations are, I am always left in the dust. I know that God never leaves His people wanting, but there are times when I feel as though nothing I do is good enough, and I know that many others feel the same way. But these verses tell a different story.

Firstly, they are a direct promise from God. He explicitly states that if you obey His commands, He will bless the work of your hands, He will set you above the rest, He will provide for and bless you. It is not a maybe, it is a yes! I don’t know about you, but when I hear these words, it is like a burden taken off of my shoulders. They are like a kind whisper that says, “Just relax, I got this.” Your work does not go unnoticed by your King.

Second, my favorite part of this passage is probably the line which reads “The Lord will open to you His great treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season.” Now, I am sure that this line could take on many different meanings, but I felt God tell me something particular about this word when I first studied it.

So often we expect God to immediately honor the good deeds we do for Him. He says that He will reward what is done in secret, but we often are too impatient to wait for that reward. We would rather settle for a good outcome right away and forego God’s best. But my friends, that would be such a shame.

Think about it like this: let’s say you’ve just planted a field with wheat. You’ve toiled for many days to dig up the ground and lay down the seeds. You’ve worked hard and long, and yet, where is your wheat? Would you then try to collect your wheat before it has grown? No of course not! You would wait for the rain to come and bring life to your crops. You would wait until your plants have fully grown before you enjoy your harvest.

That, my friends, is what God does for us. We toil and labor for His glory, and He brings the rain in due season to honor those efforts. Just because you have not yet received your reward does not mean that you will go without one forever. It would be futile to bring rain to a field that is not yet ready. If you are still digging up the ground, why would God send His rain then? You would just be left with fields of mud and nothing to show for your efforts.

Perhaps your season is not yet ready for rain. Perhaps you have some more seeds to plant or more ground to till. Whatever the reason, you can trust knowing that your work does not go unnoticed. God helps those whom He calls and He delights in showering you with His love. If you have been laboring for some time now, know that your reward is more than certain. It is promised. Wait with anticipation of what you will receive after the rain has done its work. It will be far greater than anything you could get without it.

Do not grow weary in doing good, my friends. Your rain is coming.