He talks to the snow? And the rain?

It wasn't the pitter-pattering sound of the splattering drops of rain falling that woke me. Instead it was the sound of the rain's pounding upon the earth and all (it seemed!) that was in it that did. Trust me. There's a difference. It was the thunder's ferocious roaring that followed the lightning bolts that took my mind instantly to these verses found in Job 37.

"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;

He does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth,"

and to the rain shower, "Be a mighty downpour."

So that all men He has made may know His work,

He stops every man from his labor."

Job 37:5-7

My daddy is in the construction business. When it rains he basically has to shut the business down and send all of his workers home, because (being that they work outside in the dirt) they can't work in the rain. I found this verse one summer not so many summers ago and I couldn't wait to show it to my daddy ... for now we could know why that our laborers are stopped when it rains!

I absolutely love the thought of its picture. Can you just visualize it in your mind and see God's lips moving to say to the snow, "Fall on the earth"? (I have to admit, that's a bit harder for me to imagine than some, because rarely do we ever even see snow around here. But(!), we'd like to! We wish we could!)

Or even more so, God calling out and addressing the snow by its name: "Snow, " He says. Then, "Fall on the earth," He commands it. He simply says to the snow to do so - and IT DOES! It does what it's told. It does what it's commanded to do. The snow falls, because He's told it to!

He tells the snow to fall on the earth.

And He says to the rain shower, "Be a mighty downpour!"

Then we are told this (after He's said it), "SO THAT all men He has made may know His work, He stops every man from his labor."

I don't know if that does anything for you or not, but I absolutely LOVE THAT! He tells the rain to be a mighty downpour and the rain "be"s! It just does it! It begins to drop. It falls. It pounds. It pours. He evidently said that to the rain last night, because there was definitely a mighty down-pouring rain outside my door during our dark. And now that I know that, I think of that verse every time that it rains. I can't resist myself, I'll also say it to my children (when it rains) just as He's told us He says, "Be a mighty downpour," I'll say while grinning; and they'll give me that knowing smile while shaking their heads... because they know their weird mom and they know of His Scripture.

He says, "Be a mighty downpour," but then (after that statement) He then tells us that He sends the rain "so that..."

"So that," I ask?

"So that"???

"So that what," I wonder?

Yet I don't have to wonder long, because He tells us what.

"Be a mighty downpour, so that ___!"

"So that" this:

"So that: ALL men He has made

may KNOW His work,

He stops every man

from his labor!"

Our construction crews have had to stop from their labor for all these years when it rains. Like I said, now we can know why. Why must they stop from their labor? "So that - they may KNOW His work!"

Wonder how many of us realize that?

Wonder how many of us bother to notice His work when it rains?

Or rather do we curse the rain for falling instead when it wets our world and stops us from what we were doing or from what we had planned?

Soon after I had discovered that verse and had shown it to my children, Tabor (my son) had a baseball game. In the midst of his game came the rain... and soon a downpour! The game got rained out, and we all made the mad dash to our vehicles and went home. I told Tabor (with a grin spread across my face from here to there) as we ran, I said, "God says to the rain shower, Tabor, Be a mighty downpour, and so that all men that He has made may know His work He stops every man from his labor... and sometimes He even stops them from their baseball games!"

Sometimes it stops us from our shopping plans ... or from our plans for golfing. ... or our yard work... a picnic... or our beach fun maybe? ... or? or? or? or?...

Has the rain (or the snow) stopped you from anything lately? Did it stop you today? Did you realize that it was a "so that" kind-of-a-moment? "So that" you would know the work that God's done!

May I ask you that when you stopped from that thing that you were doing did you stop to take notice? Or did you fail and miss the moment and gripe about it instead? Ah, I have never looked at the rain the same again since I have discovered that Scripture!

The verse continues to tell us: "He does great things beyond our understanding"! And He REALLY DOES do enormous things beyond what we can fathom, beyond our comprehension, beyond our human reasoning,  you know? I am living proof of the fact! I've much today to be thankful for! And I bet that you do, too, in your world from all that your God has done!

His work is just worth noticing, and sometimes worth stopping to do so. Too often we don't take that time. So sometimes - He just makes us! In His "so that" kind-of-a-moment in the rain!... or if you live in the north, sometimes in the snow. If you've missed it in the past, make note not to miss it in the future. The next time you get the rain or the snow that our God has commanded to fall or to downpour mightily, then indeed, stop, and take note of His wonder!

Today we had a "so that" kind-of-a-moment... bask in HIS work if He's stopped you from yours.