Showers of Blessing
And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing: and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. (Ezekiel 34:26)
Read: Ezek. 34:25-31; Ezek. 3:16-21; Deut. 32:2; Hos. 6:3
What Is God Saying?
Ezekiel follows Jeremiah, not only in the Biblical order of books but also chronologically. He was one of the young men taken captive to Babylon while Jeremiah was still prophesying in the terminal days of Jerusalem. The Lord commissioned Ezekiel to give words of warning (Ezek. 3:16-21 ). He did this through parables and signs like the vision of the fruitless vine (Ezek. 15). He was also commissioned to bring words of comfort and hope as he did in the vision of the dry bones (Ezek. 37). It was a case of bad news, good news. It was thankless to bring the warning of impending doom, but to bring the news of a great restorati0n was a joyful privilege. God will gather the remnants of His people.
‘My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth with none to search or seek for them’ (Ezek. 34:6). A glorious age awaits-Israel will know that the Lord is God, their God and that they are His people (Ezek. 34:30-31). In a land where drought is a chief spoiler of prosperity, there will be showers, refreshing rain in the right seasons, and showers of blessing.
How Does This Apply To Us?
Many times in Ezekiel 34, God says, I will. That is time to listen and it is futile for anyone to oppose or deny it. God will send showers of blessing to the restored people of Israel and will care for individual Christians. We assume that what God promises to future Israel is available to Christians alive in the present (II Cor. 9:8; Phil. 4:19). Christ came that we might have life abundant (John 10:10), and we may pray for and receive showers of blessing. If our souls remain parched amid His riches, available now, we must blame ourselves.
Pray With Me
Lord, although I am showered by Your blessings, I can still complain. Although I am engulfed by Your goodness, I still have times of anxiety and doubt. Although I am deluged by Your mercies, I still show myself so often to be ungrateful. The showers of blessings which You have promised are daily realities. Your mercies are as generous as the sun, as limitless as the oceans, as constant as the hills. If I remain parched in the middle of this abundance or if I count myself poor in the middle of this plenty, I have no one to blame but myself.
Lead me, Lord, from the periphery of pathetic fears into the calm center of full trust. Lead me from the fringes of faltering faith into the center of glad, bold confidence. Lead me from the borders of life where half-faith and half-doubt must be content with occasional drops. Lead me in the bountiful center of faith where You send down showers of blessing. Then I shall find a greater blessing. Filled, I shall overflow. Blessed, I shall be a blessing. ‘I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing.’ This is the promise You made and the program in which I may have a part. I claim the blessing of this larger goodness.
The blessings that fill my cup to overflowing are not just for me. If I believe them to be so, the cup will no longer overflow. So, through me, let Your blessings become blessings for ‘the places round about.’ Father, You bring showers of blessing. I pray for a more obedient and trusting faith. Bring me to the place of receiving and sharing Your showers.
Through Him who perfectly showed Your love and abundantly showered Your love for all humankind. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
God's abundant blessings are really on tap. We don't have to look at a diminishing reservoir and worry. We don't have to look at a cloudless sky and wonder. We don't have to sink a shaft deep in the earth only to find it's a dry hole. Prayer is opening the windows of Heaven to receive constant refreshing, nourishing rain. Prayer is simply asking, believing, and receiving. God's supply is never limited. Only our faith has limits. Moving on in the life of prayer should take us from the periphery of pathetic fears into the calm center of full trust.
