The longer I’ve walked the with Lord the more and more he has revealed to me about his sovereignty; particularly how his sovereignty governs the affairs of men.

And yet men pay him no regard. And what regard they do pay him they pay him with lip service.

What do I mean by that?

Well the rain for instance, or the lack there of it.

We look at the rain and consider it an arbitrary thing. Something that just happens in the natural order or things. Something we just expect, something we’re frankly entitled to.

And then it doesn’t rain for a stretch. And that stretch grows longer. And longer. It begins to grow long enough that we get irritable by the heat and the lack of the rain.

We check the weather report. Still no rain. We cuss it, then we turn up the AC and go about our day. We remain indignant. “Where’s the cursed rain?”

We remain defiant. Unbridled. Expectant and entitled.

We pay no regard to the God who made the earth and everything in it. The God who makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike.

And then some of us open our Bibles and read then and we read things like Jeremiah 5

“20Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26For wicked men are found among my people;
they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
they catch men.
27Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”

30An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?” – Jeremiah 5:20-31

And yet still. We pay God lip service.

What do I mean by that.

Well we see Jeremiah 5 as an interesting story about a long ago people. We read it, we acknowledge the lesson that’s held within. That the people of God had done evil in the sight of the Lord and for this reason he caused the rain to cease. Bad Israel. Man they sure were hard hearted.

And then we just keep going about our day. Checking the weather, getting annoyed that it’s still says three digit heat and no rain.

No sack cloth. No ashes. No contrition. Just a proud and calloused heart. One that can’t be bothered to even acknowledge the Source of the rain and ask for Him for that which they desire…

Look, the God who made the rain fall on Israel is same God who causes the rain to fall on Texas. The same God who withholds rain from Texas.

If you’re reading this and kind of scoffing in your heart, “Well that’s a little much, I mean I see what you’re getting at but…” well, that’s what I’m getting at. Lip service.

We are a proud, stubborn and entitled people.

We expect the rain.

And when the rain doesn’t come, we get angry.

I wonder, is the God who makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike trying to get our attention?

Have we offended him?

I wonder, maybe our offense is the simply fact that we don’t acknowledge him in our daily lives for who He actually is and who we are before him. He’s the rainmaker and we are his creation. When he causes the rain to cease, do we muster the humility to even ask him for that which we desire?

“Lord, would you have mercy on us? It’s hot and dry. Please Lord, send rain. Have mercy on the just and the unjust alike and cause the sky to give forth rain as only you can do.”

Do you pray like this? I mean in your actually daily life? Do you pray to the God who made the earth and everything in it like he is who he says he is?

Or do you pay him lip service?

Maybe it’s dry because God wants to get your attention. I wonder. Does he have it yet?

Droughts make me wonder ya know.

“Lord, have I offended you? Have mercy on me a sinner. Forgive me Lord for I have failed to acknowledge you in my heart for who your are and what you have done. Forgive me. Lord, please send forth the rain. Thank you.”