Enough!

It rained last night. After more than sixty days with no rain and scorching temperatures, it was a welcome relief. All around us wildfires burned, people evacuated with only minutes to outrun the flames, homes and animals were lost, and now, finally, it rained. I have to wonder, with the weather we are experiencing, is God trying to get our attention? Do we need a wake-up call? God could send the proper amount of snow in winter and rain in summer and also protect us from all the forces of nature, but if He did, we would be living in a “heaven on earth.” We would have no desire or need to seek His will, to know Him more, to share the gospel with others, and to be ready to meet Him. Everything on earth would be just peachy. Summer is a season everyone usually loves, with its vacations, beach time, hiking, warm days, and cool breezy evenings. But in recent years on the western side of North America, summer has become a fearsome time—fear that lighting may spark a fire or a careless human may unintentionally start one. Fear the next big fire will be chasing me! Though God sent a worldwide flood to destroy humankind in Genesis, most of the natural disasters today are the works of the enemy. As with Job, God may allow Satan to trouble us, and in those troubles God intends to awaken us to the fact of how much we need Him. And how much we need Him! Though our current fire season could have gone on unabated through September and into October, last night, God said, “OK, this is enough. I will reach down and send the rain. I will help My people.” In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about the days of tribulation being shortened or no one would survive.

It felt that way this summer. God shortened the fire season and blessed us with rain. In Daniel 10, the angel says to Daniel, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding . . . your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way” (Daniel 10:12, 13, NLT). Today, all these years after Daniel’s time, Jesus is still fighting for us. This time He sent rain and cooler weather, and we praise His name!

Elizabeth Versteegh Odiyar