As I type this week’s post, the sky is gray and sputtering light moisture. It’s a welcome sight, as we have been in a bit of a dry spell for a while now. This is unusual for this time of year in central Michigan. Normally, May is our wettest month of the year, with an average of 3 ½ inches of rain falling.

In fact, the warmer months in Michigan provide a bounty of rainfall. It’s not always raining by any means, but it rains frequently enough to keep the grass a brilliant green and the flowers and trees well-watered.

Those of you who are familiar with the state of Washington where we used to live know that the rainy season there is from mid-September until maybe mid-June. Dry days during those months are rare. However, during the summers hardly a drop of precipitation falls. Which means that unless one makes a point to water the lawn, the grass dies. As do the flowers in the beds.

So when the rains return, many western-Washington locals rejoice. The grass will turn green again!

Different places; different climates.

Regardless of where one might live or be, rain is a crucial element … though it’s often a blessing we tend to take for granted. But water is no insignificant thing! Without it, plants and animals die. Most locales are supported primarily by precipitation that falls from heaven, either as rain or snow, which waters the soil and accumulates in rivers, lakes and oceans.

The simplest illustration of this truth can be found by considering the amount of moisture that falls in various places, and how those lands look.

For example, Mawsynram, India and Tutunendo, Colombia are both near the equator and consequently receive some of the highest precipitation totals in the world – over 460 inches a year! (If you would like to see pictures of the foliage there, look the cities up. It is beyond lush!) Meanwhile, Egypt averages only three-hundredths (0.03) of an inch per year, and its landscape is much starker.

These are extreme examples. But the same holds true in our own country, albeit in less dramatic fashion. Yet the differences are dramatic enough. Hawaii is our top-rain receiver with approximately 64 inches annually; Nevada our lowest at only 9 ½ inches. Needless to say, the flora appearances in those two states are significantly different! (For a quick comparison of the amount of annual rain/snow in the states, check out the color-coded map from “CurrentResults.com” at the bottom of this article.)

The state of Washington where we used to live clearly demonstrates the impact of precipitation. With the Pacific Ocean on the west border, several mountain ranges bisecting the state, and serious elevation differences around the region, the amount of annual precip varies greatly, as does the vegetation in the various zones. On the coast below the Olympic Mountains resides a temperate rainforest which accumulates about 120 inches of rain per year. On the rolling plains east of the Cascade Mountains, the trees and plants are quite different because typically less than 10 inches falls.

It’s interesting to compare our former city and our current one. Tacoma gleans about 40 inches per year (mostly in the fall, winter and spring) and the plant life there appropriately reflects it. Everything is green there three-quarters of the year, but not over summer. Clare receives almost the same amount (in snow and rain), but mostly in the warmer months, making summer gloriously green.

It’s quite a simple concept actually. The more rain that waters the land, the more the land flourishes.

The Lord grabs this concept and turns it into a telling illustration through the prophet Isaiah. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

It’s the same simple concept! The more the soil of our souls are watered by God’s Word, the more our souls flourish spiritually.

Through the Gospel, the Holy Spirit creates faith in our Savior (Titus 3:5-6), nourishes that faith (Ephesians 3:16), and fosters fruits of faith (Galatians 5:22-23). The more our hearts are watered by the Word, the more we blossom spiritually. Our hearts, minds and bodies are impacted. Our attitudes are altered; our thoughts are adjusted; our actions are improved; our lives are blessed with spiritual abundance.

That’s why God shares his Word. That’s what God desires to accomplish. That’s the purpose for which God sends it out. To water souls so they produce a rich harvest of faith and fruit! So soak up as much spiritual moisture as you can!

What a blessing when rain falls and waters the land. But the greater blessing is when God’s truth nourishes hearts, and lovely faith flowers burst forth!

As Moses exclaimed jubilantly shortly before he died: “Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deuteronomy 32:1-4).

Praise God for the rain! For the physical, but especially for the spiritual!