Looking for a Rain Cloud

If I cannot catch "the sound of noise of rain" long before the rain falls, and, going to some hilltop of the spirit, as near to my God as I can, have not faith to wait there with my face between my knees, though six times or sixty times I am told "there is nothing," till at last "there arises a little cloud out of the sea," then I know nothing of Calvary love.

During my quiet time this morning, I was reading from the poetry book "If" by Amy Carmichael. The above poem took me off guard because I couldn't figure out what in the world it was talking about. Then I realized that there was a Bible reference at the bottom of the page. So I turned to 1 Kings 18:41-45 and God opened my heart to a valuable lesson.

In this passage, Elijah has gone up to the top of Mt. Carmel to pray for God's relief from the drought. He prays while sending his servant to check for a rain cloud. Over and over again the servant says, "There's nothing!" And yet Elijah does not give up. He continues to pray and after seven times, his servant says, "A little cloud like a man's hand is coming from the sea." In that moment the skies grew dark and the rains came!

Brian and I have been feeling like we're in a drought. No, we have plenty of food, but we have felt a "drought" of sorts in certain areas of our lives. What God reminded me today is that there are going to be plenty of circumstances (and people) that shout "There's nothing!" when they look at our lives. But like Elijah, we need to be consistent in our prayer and trust that God is going to send a rain cloud. And when he does, our drought will be reversed by a downpour of God's blessings!