Isaiah 55:10-11, Numbers 23:19

David Hellyer reflects on the faithfulness of God

David Hellyer

It snowed last week! I live in the South East of England and we barely ever get any real snow. To be completely honest the snow we had last week was nothing more than a dusting, but it was snow and that's all that matters. It fell quite hard for about 30minutes and covered the ground everywhere, but after a couple of hours it had all melted.

In our area we're far more used to rain than snow, as you can tell from my excitement at getting just a dusting of snow. The novelty is no-where near worn off in our neck of the woods.

It got me thinking about those fantastic verses in Isaiah 55:10-11. I love these verses because for me they are a visual reminder of God's faithfulness and turn a simple snow dusting into an object lesson.

'The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.' Isaiah 55:10 (NLT)

Rain can fall as that light misty fine rain, or on the other hand rain can come down in such a deluge that each raindrop is almost painful on your skin (especially for those of us with less hair!). The rain and snow can't fall halfway down to the earth and then decide that they don't fancy it and fly back up to the clouds again. That simply cannot happen. Snow is the same; light snow can get really blown around and take it's time falling down, but it still comes down. A quick google search reveals that whilst a raindrop may take between 3-6minutes to make the journey between the cloud and the ground, a snowflake could take anywhere between 45minutes to an hour!

However, regardless of the time involved, the rain and snow both make their very definite journey downwards; they can't return back to the sky without watering the ground and performing the purpose for which they were sent. This is what makes the next verse so exciting:

'It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.' Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)

Just like the rain and the snow, God's word never returns to Him void - it always accomplishes that which He sent it out to perform.

In Numbers we are reminded that God is not human like us and He does not lie or change His mind:

'God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?' Numbers 23:19 (NLT)

Hold onto His promises today and know that when God speaks, He acts. It may seem to you that this word is more of a snowflake than a raindrop - perhaps it is taking more time than you had anticipated to come through, but God is faithful to His word.

I pray that God would grant you the faithfulness, patience and peace to hold on to the hope of His word to you, so that you get to see the fruit in your life and in the lives of those around you!