If you don’t live in Las Vegas, the big story this past week was the rain in the Las Vegas Valley. Rain in an amount we haven’t seen in quite a while. Incredibly, Lake Mead added three inches of depth because of the precipitation. 

In other parts of the country, rain is a fact of life and it barely gets a mention when it starts or stops.

Here in the Mojave Desert, we stop when the rain starts and we watch … or at least I do.

Rain is a gift in the desert especially when we are experiencing severe drought. Of course, heavy rains bring mayhem too.

This past week, we lost a tree in our parking lot. The blessing in this loss was that the tree was already dead and needed to be removed. The tree company wanted $3000 to remove the tree. The rain and wind took care of that for us. It even fell perfectly (thank you God) between a break in our cinder block wall and palm trees (which are just fine). 

Years ago, I parked under that tree for shade in the summer!

Sure, we need a lot more snow in the western Rocky Mountains to resolve our drought issues but the rains have been refreshing.

Rain in moderate amounts can be refreshing even cleansing. It can wash away the grime and grit that accumulates everywhere.

Listen to what God equates to rain in Deuteronomy…

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. Deuteronomy 32:2

God’s word (scripture) and God’s Word (Jesus) nourishes us in the same way that plants need water to grow.

We feed ourselves with a lot “fertilizer” but God’s Word is helpful, comforting and always there for us. 

I believe that with the core of my being. Whenever someone asks the hypothetical question, “What one book would you want if you were stranded on a desert island? My answer is always, “The Bible.” It has everything I need for spiritual nourishment.

Pair that book with Jesus and I have all I need, spiritually speaking. 

Remember what God said to Isaiah so many years ago…

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

God has a plan to direct his word at us like a refreshing rain. Be open to the “living water” that Jesus promised the woman at the well and us!

God bless,
Pr. Ben