The Rain by Pastor Enoch Adeboye: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Rain That Brings Blessing

Joel 2:23-29 speaks of the former rain and the latter rain, of floors full of wheat and vats overflowing with wine and oil, of restoration of years the locust have eaten, and of the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh.

Not every rain is the same. When God was angry with Sodom and Gomorrah, he rained brimstone and fire. That is also a rain. But we are speaking of the kind of rain that brings blessing. Ezekiel 34:26 calls it showers of blessing.

What Rain Does

Rain brings refreshing. When the heat has been unbearable, rain falls and everything cools down. Every abnormal heat in your life will be gone.

One of the greatest sources of fresh water is rain. When it rains, the rivers flow and fresh water comes. But probably the most important benefit is found in Isaiah 55:10. God speaks of rain as the thing that enables the earth to bring seed for the sower and food for the eater. The greatest opponent of famine is rain. When it rains, there is food to eat and seeds to plant, so that the following year there will still be food.

In Amos 4:7, when God was angry with the people, he would rain on one city and keep another city dry. The city with rain had food and water. The city without rain had to go to the others. Those with rain become the "go-to" people. In every family there is someone they call the go-to person. When God rains on your life, you will become that person in your family.

Full and Full

There is "full" and there is "full." The tire of a car is full of air, but the amount of air in a car tire is not the same as what is required in the tire of a 747 aircraft. The plane carries 500 people at extraordinary speed. The kinetic energy is immense. Yet when that massive plane lands, it lands on tires that absorb the entire impact and say to the plane: "Is that all you can do?"

On the day of Pentecost, everyone was filled. Yet later the Bible speaks of Stephen as a man full of the Holy Spirit. There is a difference between being filled casually and being so full that in a crowd, people will pick you out, just as Stephen was picked out.

How much of the rain a person can soak in is determined by how thirsty they are when it falls. Any ground that is not thirsty, the rain falls and simply flows off. But when the soil is thirsty and the rain comes, it grabs the rain and soaks it in.