RAIN!

It rained on Saturday! Our weather has been hot and dry for weeks and the rain was more than welcome. I went outside just to enjoy it and didn’t mind that I got a little wet. The smell of rain falling on dusty leaves was heavenly. I breathed it in like one who has been deprived of breath for some time! I went inside to watch the falling rain from my window pane until the rain stopped falling down.

I remembered a legend I had heard years ago. The legend was written down somewhere about 100 years before Jesus was born. The people of that time and place were complaining about the loss of their crops because of the lack of rain. An old man told the people about a prophet who lived up in the hills and talked to God all the time.

“Maybe if I go up there and tell them, he will talk to God and ask him for rain” said the old man.

The people thought it would be a great idea so the man left to find the prophet. Soon the two men could be seen walking down the hill and the people ran to meet them. They began complaining to him how their crops were failing. All he said was,” Your complaining won’t help one bit!”

He took a stick and drew a large circle in the dust. He sat down in the center of the circle and began to pray. After several hours, the rain came, and it came in such large amounts that the people began complaining that now the crops will be toppled over by the rain.

The prophet kept on praying. soon the rain came as a soft mist. The people complained louder, “This rain isn’t enough, even to water the herds,” they said.

The prophet prayed some more and the rain came down softly, just as the people wanted but they forgot to say “thanks”.

Aren’t we the same? When we have long periods of rain, don’t we complain saying,”Oh why doesn’t this rain quit. I hate it!”. Or, if it doesn’t rain for awhile, we complain again saying, “Why doesn’t it rain?”. Instead of complaining, why not talk to God about it? He knows all the answers, doesn’t He? And, remember to say, “thanks”.