"He says to the rain shower,
'Be a mighty downpour.' "
Job 37:6
Hot, hot, hot today.
And surprisingly humid for Southern California. The kids and I were hoping it would rain, but no such luck. I mean, I suppose it still could, but it's getting less and less likely as the minutes tick by.
And I got to thinking about this verse in Job, hoping that God would, indeed, speak to the rainclouds that were near us.
But what I love about this verse is not that God tells the rain shower when to rain, but that He can command it to be a mighty downpour. I love the power He has.
He is holy, He is mighty, He is sovereign. He created the earth and everything on it; the seas and all that is in them, and they respond to Him. He has storehouses of snow, and hail reserved for times of trouble.
I think we too often forget, or at least underestimate, the amount of power He has. He who commands the rain is also He who says, "Test Me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." (Malachi 3:10)
He doesn't just promise blessing, but in abundance. Pressed down, shaken over.... Packed, crammed and stuffed in. Blessings to overwhelmsion.
I don't know if that's a real word.
I might have just made it up.
But it's perfect.
So I'm using it.
There are areas of my life where I am overwhelmed by Him, and His blessings for me. But I forget to look at those when I'm thinking about the ways I think my life could be better. But an abundance of blessings is due to His love ~ His mighty, powerful love.
~ "Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ" ~
Ephesians 1:3
~
I looked up Malachi 3:10 in about a dozen English versions and every last one of them says "windows" except the NIV, which says "floodgates"...I wonder why? Do you think it was changed because of the verb "pour"? I am really confused now.
ReplyDeleteThe more I know the less I know.
Wow, really? Interesting. I just looked now and found that the Hebrew word is 'arubbah. It says it can mean a window (as in Ecclesiastes 12:3), a chimney (as in Hosea 13:3), or the floodgates of heaven, as in rain (Genesis 7:11 and 8:2; 2 Kings 7:19; Isaiah 24:18 and Malachi 3:10)
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm going to spend several days pondering a verse I thought I already understood. Yay! :)
While you are pondering, ponder this: I heard a pastor say one time that Malachi 3:10 is more about God's desire and ability to continue pouring out than our capacity to receive, and that this is reflected in the italicized words in the King James Version. Italicized words in the KJV were added by the translators to help readers understand better what the original meant. Take away the italicized words in Malachi 3:10 and at the end of the verse you are left with "...pour put a blessing, that not enough"....
ReplyDelete