The Rain and the Wind: The Good and the Bad News

(Anatomy of an Answered Prayer)

Swirling over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, as this is written, are three tropical storms (International Names: Saomai, Maria, and Bopha) that formed successively on August 4, 6 and 7 (See photo above from NASA Earth Observatory Website).

Last week, the headlines in Manila ironically splashed with news on the drought in Northern Luzon and the dwindling water supply in Metro Manila and other places. Commentators, in a shrill chorus of complaints, chided authorities for the lack of a water conservation program to address the crisis which occurs annually. The concerned agencies countered with their own official lines, ending with the assurance that the drought problem would end in a month with the arrival of typhoons.

In the meantime, people are encouraged to take shorter baths or, maybe, bathe every other day and wash cars every other week to conserve water. Blessed with abundant water, unlike some nations, Filipinos have always been known to take baths everyday. In fact, some Westerners who come here for the first time acquire the habit when they realize not doing so can be quite unpleasant to the nose. To ask Filipinos to miss a bath is like asking them not to eat. So, most of those who live in cities do not mind warnings of drought or water shortage.

Surprisingly, the news of Typhoon Chedeng (local name for Bopha) did not cause TV networks to raise up people's hopes. On the contrary, they harped on the typhoon’s inability to fill up the dams. They reported that instead of raising water levels, the stored water even dwindled. The spokesman from Pag-Asa Weather Forecasting said that the dams were allowed to flow continuously. Why, the news did not follow up on the issue. Still the agency said that the effect of Chedeng is to suck in clouds from the southwest and bring more much-needed rains. Good news! But being hopeful before a cynical TV network or public is a difficult act; you could end up being blamed for nature’s inadequacy. You want real good news? Look up much higher -- to the sky.

In Proverbs 30:16, the Bible mentions people who are like the “land that is never satisfied with water” or, for that matter, rain. Like fire, it never says, “Enough!” News reporters not only feed us a lot of negative news but they seem never satisfied with a real blessing when it comes. Not even a public acknowledgment to the God Who gave us the rains, at last! And we call this a Christian nation?

The government system with its line agencies could only manage resources – fuel for energy or water, for instance – if they are available and could not therefore be called upon to create air from nothing. Only God can make miracles; governments make do. Or some, perhaps, just simply fail to do their task, justifiably or not. Some dam projects have been shelved indefinitely because of strong public opposition. Thus, with its hands tied, the government – and, it follows, the people -- will have to wait for each rainy season to wipe out any water deficit. God indeed always provides but humans must learn to devise and not divide.

Early on, my friend Imanoel had seen this recurring problem not as a purely political or social problem but as a spiritual one. Most problems are; but people are not so, well, spiritual enough. Anyway, he took the matter into God’s hand again as he did twice before, in 1990 and 1996: He fasted and prayed for rain. Both times, he got his request. Again, last week he was challenged by a friend to go down on his hungry knees for rain, which he did.

So last Saturday, August 4, he fasted and prayed for rain. As before, rains came on the third day. Unlike before, however, he saw three typhoons form over the Pacific Ocean. Not one but three! Is this an effect of global warming? Weather forecasters say it is “unusual” but “not unprecedented”. Whatever it may be, he was able to prove to himself that such answers to prayers could not have been merely coincidental in the sense that it is the typhoon season anyway. For it was exactly on the day that he fasted (together with many other people most certainly) that the first typhoon formed, followed by another typhoon two days after, and finally by a third on the third day.

With eyes filled with joy and wonder, he looked at the satellite photo with those water-bearing cyclones he had yearned for. No, the awesome answer to his prayer and proof of the continuing powerful presence and provision of the Creator. And he felt satisfied, truly satisfied. Hallelujah! Once again, he had unequivocal evidence of God’s faithfulness in these times of unbelief and skepticism.

James 5 mentions the story when Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it did not rain for three and a half years and when he prayed for rain, it rained. Any ordinary man like Elijah can do the same if he has fervent faith. What makes prayers effective is not us but our extraordinary God Who answers them because He "works" for us.

Perhaps, if we had enough faith in God, His creation and the institutions He has established, we can have a more progressive nation. Otherwise, we would become so depraved to the point that even God will not be able to satisfy us or, much worse, we might end up blaming Him as well for all our problems – and that includes ravages brought by typhoons. It has been known to happen.

What was that again? Land that is never satisfied with water, or fire that never says, “Enough!” Murmuring or complaining is as natural and destructive as the howling winds. It is the boisterous part of the process of raising up waters from the ocean and dumping them on the land. It is the noisy clanging of the empty drum of water. Murmuring, like the storm, can kill. An answered prayer, on the other hand, can be as refreshing, reassuring and reviving as the rain that falls on parched land.

Moses once lost his temper at the Israelites’ constant griping at the lack of water in the desert.After forty years of hearing their complaints, he finally let go of anger. He thus struck the rock and water gushed out at Meribah. Now, that -- water in the desert -- is a good story and good news! Was it a miracle? What do you think: Is God real? Does the Earth rotate? More than the “bad” weather, bad people sometimes make life unbearable. Moses knew it so well.

But there is no such thing as bad weather. Every good thing comes from heaven as a blessing from God.

Thank You, dear Lord, for the rains!