On a trip to Colorado Springs several years ago, we watched some Native Americans perform a rain dance at the base of Seven Falls. We watched with delight as they celebrated their culture, but fully understanding it would not bring rain. The Bible makes it clear that God sends the rain in response to humility, confession and prayer.
Our earth depends on rain. Rain depends on God. God said to Job, “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?” (Job 38:25-27, NLT). God asks this of Job in order to show man’s weakness and God’s might. After declaring His power over rain, God says to Job, “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain” (Job 38:34, NLT). The answer is an emphatic no. We solely rely on God.
The withholding of rain was one of God’s ways to turn people’s hearts to Him. When the people of Israel strayed from God to worship the Canaanite gods, the Lord withheld the rain for over three years (I Kings 17, James 5:17). The Canaanite god, Baal, was called the god of thunder and was thought to control the weather. God withheld the rain to show they worshipped the wrong god. The three-year drought ended with the prophet confronting the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel in I Kings 18. After God’s victory and Baal’s utter failure, the rain fell. When God was glorified and exalted, the rain came.
Rain was the subject of Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple of God in Jerusalem in II Chronicles 6-7. In his prayer, Solomon asks what he should do if it doesn’t rain. God responds, “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:13,14, NKJ). Since the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), I suspect the lack of rain today is God’s nudging to turn our hearts toward Him.
Desperate times plagued the people of God in Joel’s day. Their plight was eerily similar to ours. The prophet cries, “O Lord, to You I cry out; for fire has devoured the open pastures, and a flame has burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried up…” (Joel 1:19-20, NKJ). How does God respond? “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning…Return to the Lord your God” (Joel 2:12, 13). God blesses His people and the land when they seek after Him.