As I am writing this article we have been experiencing weeks of high temperatures and bright sunny days. Many people quite like the hot weather but there are others that don’t. I have to admit that it has been a little too hot for me!

If you are a keen gardener you will be very concerned about the lack of rain and the way that the ground has become drier and harder.  The grass on many a lawn has faded through yellow to a silvery white colour, particularly at the edges.  There is talk of water shortages in the north of England and the possibility of hose pipe bans.  There was even a day a few weeks ago when they were giving out water in bottles at Tesco because of water treatment issues.

Those of us with the age and the memory will be reminded of the summer of ‘76.  I remember that long hot summer and how dry it was; the pictures on television of reservoirs almost empty.  I don’t think it was so hot then, but it certainly was dry.  We lived in Reading at the time and like many parts of the south, for a while we had a stand pipe in the street, just outside our house. We had to queue up to collect the water we needed each day.  I don’t know if there will have been any significant rain by the time you read this, but I hope so!

In the Bible rain is seen a blessing from the Lord.  In the book of Genesis as God is creating the world, there is no vegetation on the ground until God sends the rains on the earth.  Psalm 147 tells us that God provides rain for the earth so that the grass grows on the mountains.  In a dry and arid land, it is not surprising that the people of Israel saw rain and water as very precious and something that they were blessed with when it came. It watered their crops and filled their wells so that life could be sustained through the periods of dryness.  

With our changing weather patterns and increasingly extreme weather conditions, there are times when we might well see rain as a blessing - especially now.  But in a very real sense God is always pouring down his blessings on us, in many ways.  What we need to do is be able to recognise those things that he gives us and respond to them with thankfulness and gratitude.  

With every blessing

Tim