Zechariah 10 vs.1 (NIV)
Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.
The latter rain occurred during the time of the vernal equinox; this is the spring rain that we depend on every year to create an atmosphere for grain to mature. We all know the saying April showers bring May flowers, but often we need rain to occur earlier than April to ensure the full growth of the thing we have planted. This is called the early rain, and it happened during the autumn equinox around the time of September.
While we have the convenience of grocery stores, farmer markets, and co-ops, in days of old, the entire existence of a family depended upon the regular appearance of these rains. Without these rains, entire populations were wiped out. Within the text is embedded an extraordinary promise, it says that God will make the clouds bright and then give them rain, if only they would ask. The reason this is so significant is that when most storms come, first there is rain, then there is lightning, and then there is thunder, but here God says he will do something out of the ordinary for you if you ask him to.
He will bring the lightning before the rain, to accomplish that which you request. Are you facing a crisis, one that threatens to destroy all you have worked for or your very existence? Are you at your wit’s end, because you have come to an impasse and you are out of options, why not ask God for help?
There is an Arabic proverb by the author Dean Perowne that speaks of a young man whose life turns out in a way that no one expected, he says, “He lightens but does not rain.” This is nothing short of a miracle, in our terms, but know that there are people all around the world who have seen, lived and experience things that by human terms are impossible because they decided to fall on their knees and ask God to do something that otherwise would be unattainable.
