I love a rainy day, even on vacation. I’m sitting in the cozy living room listening to the rain fall on the deck and the forest around me. The mist is hanging low over the mountains near me. In between the rain, the birds are chirping. I wonder how many of them had their heads tucked into their feathers snuggled on their nests or in the hollow of the trees trying to escape the raindrops.
I also wonder about the deer. Where do they hide when it rains for twenty-four hours? Do they also tuck in their heads and wait for it to stop? Or do they know where in the forest the leaves are dense and they can find some shelter? Where there aren’t fir trees to hide under, they will certainly get wet. I know about this because as a child I’d go up into our pine forest and crawl under the lower branches listening and watching for the bunnies or deer to appear. I stayed quite dry if I picked the right pine tree. I’m so glad I’m not a deer. Or a bird for that matter. Although, being able to fly might be worth getting my feathers wet occasionally.
I can watch the raindrops dance on the deck, gather and splash on the railing and overflow the clay flowerpot saucers on the table outside. I think of the tiny hummingbirds who visit the feeder here and wonder if they put their nests in places where they won’t get swamped with rain. They are so tiny that usually you can’t see their creations even after the leaves have fallen. I’m sure their feet are dry.
Such a God we have who created rain for the earth. What would we do without it? And how awesome that He made the water flow in two directions at the top of the two continental divides so the oceans ultimately benefit from the rain. Think about all the acres of land that any one raindrop passes through before it makes it to the ocean. Such a sightseeing trip. I’d like to be that raindrop. Although going over a waterfall and crashing onto rocks might not be the most pleasant part of the trip.
Water is necessary for life. Isaiah talked about how the rain falls on the earth watering it so that it can bud and flourish, providing seed for the sower and bread for us to eat. He talks about the abundance of the rain and snow likening it to His Word going forth and not returning without accomplishing His purposes. Just like water, His Word brings and sustains life.
I can see why people on every continent built settlements along rivers. Fresh water and fresh fish and game would be plentiful. But the rivers are beautiful in their own right. I love the sound of the water as it moves over the rocks and waterfalls.
We have had more than three inches of rain in the past twenty-four hours. The streams will soon be rushing torrents. Beaver dams will get stretched to the max. maybe even causing the water to rush over the top. The squirrels are going to come home with wet feet today unless they’ve taken a holiday and are snoozing in their leafy bowers.
Everywhere the rain touched, colors and contrasts are heightened. Mushroom colonies seem to appear overnight. Everything seems to take on a vibrancy usually reserved for the early days of spring. The crepe myrtles are bearing the color of cedar, their bark having absorbed the rain. The moss on the north side of the trees and on the ground is neon bright. The lichens are full of color. There are fallen twigs, seedpods and leaves arranged in artistic collages by God’s hand.
The lichens and fungi sems to flourish in the rain. Their colors are more vivid making even the cream and brown lichens look like velvet or satin. I would love to have a time-lapse photograph of certain places to see how fast they grow. The jelly fungi swell up to ten times their size with the moisture. Even the less colorful lichens wear a rich color with the moisture. A walk in the rain always brings discovery of newly minted lichens, or at least ones that are now more vibrant due to the rain.
All in all, a rainy day has many gifts to offer. We just have to look and expect to be rewarded.
“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 NIV
