The Rain’s Coming

There were two farmers, Hank and Joe, who lived on adjacent properties.

They were in the middle of a long drought that had left their land parched, making it almost impossible to grow crops.

One day Joe looked over his fence and saw Hank working on building a new dam.

“What are you doing that for?  There’s no water.” Joe said.

“The rain’s coming.” replied Hank.

Joe looked up at the cloudless sky, shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

A couple of weeks later, Joe looked over the fence again and saw Hank working on a new irrigation system.

“What’s the point of doing that?  There’s still no water.”  Joe shouted.

“The rain’s coming,” replied Hank.

“That’s what you said last time,” Joe muttered under his breath as he turned around and walked away.

A few weeks later, large black clouds started to fill the sky and then the rain finally fell, breaking the drought with a massive downfall that had the potential to change the future for all of the farmers in the region.

Hank looked out from his farmhouse as his new dam and irrigation system filled with precious water, ensuring that he would benefit from the rain for a long time in the future.

Joe was relieved to see the rain, but he was unprepared and his property soon dried up again.

A few months later, Joe looked over his fence at Hank’s luscious farm with envy.  “Why is he so lucky?”  he asked himself.

Hank looked back at his neighbour’s dust bowl of a farm with pity.  “Why is he so foolish?”  he asked himself.

Sometimes we go through challenging situations in life.

Difficult economic conditions, relationship issues or perhaps even the feeling that God has abandoned us.

If that’s you, I want to encourage you that the rain’s coming.

Droughts don’t last forever, but are you prepared to make the most of it when circumstances change for the better?

Because if you’re not preparing yourself during the dry season, you may miss the chance when the downfall comes.

When there are no immediate job prospects due to the economy are you still building your network, keeping your resume up-to-date and increasing your level of expertise?

When your spiritual life seems dry are you still praying, reading your bible and engaging with a local church?

When formal leadership opportunities seem few and far between are you still influencing, guiding, mentoring and developing your leadership capability even though you don’t have a title?

Or will the moment pass, leaving you to wonder why others are so much more fortunate that you?

The rain’s coming.

Get ready!