The Rain and the Word

Have you ever shared the Word of God with someone and thought, “That didn’t really seem to accomplish anything.” I have. There are times that I have unsheathed the sword of Scripture and swung it with all my might, seemingly to no effect. These can be very discouraging experiences.

The antidote to that discouragement is to actively trust in what God says is true about His own Word. In this post, I want to reinforce your confidence in God’s Word and reinvigorate your eagerness to counsel the Word, by reminding you of one very powerful illustration we find in Scripture: God says His Word is like rain. 

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Rain always waters the earth. Every time it falls, it has this effect. Never has rain returned to heaven without actually doing this, as if (for all practical purposes) it hadn’t rained in the first place. God’s Word is the same. The Word always has an effect. Never has God’s Word returned to heaven without actually accomplishing anything on earth, as if (for all practical purpose) the words hadn’t gone out from God’s mouth in the first place.

We can call this rain-like attribute of Scripture the efficacy of the Word. We believe that Scripture is efficacious: the Word always goes out with effect-producing power.

We need to believe in the power of God’s Word, and not just in the sense that God’s Word is capable of accomplishing many great things. We also need to believe in the power of God’s Word in the sense that God’s Word is continually accomplishing many things, without exception, even if we cannot perceive what exactly is being accomplished.

God’s Word never goes back to heaven as a defeated failure that accomplished nothing. God’s Word never returns to heaven empty handed, with nothing to show for its going out.

Does not the first page of Scripture teach us this? God’s words created the heavens and the earth, and everything in them. Can you imagine if Genesis 1 read: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and it was so. God said, ‘Let there be stars,’ and it was so. God said, ‘Let there be plants,’ but this time, nothing happened…” That’s impossible! God’s Word never does nothing! Whenever we share God’s Word with someone, or whenever we seek God’s Word for ourselves, something divine happens.

Does the rain ever fail to make the earth wet? Does the snow ever drift back up to heaven with no effect at all on the earth? God says, “So shall My Word be.”

Nothing is more unlikely in all the universe than for a single word of God to return to Him empty. The mountains might get thrown into the heart of the sea. The heavens might get rolled up like a robe. But God’s words are not going to accomplish nothing.

The effectiveness of God’s Word is far more certain than both death and taxes. So we should live like it and seek God’s Word personally with great eagerness and expectation. And we should sow the seed of God’s Word with great confidence in God’s power, and great trust in His commitment to working through His Word.

There’s more we need to learn from these verses in Isaiah. They don’t only teach that God’s Word always produces some kind of effect whenever it goes out. These verses claim something more specific. They also teach us what those effects will be.

God said in the second half of verse 11: “It shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” The effect of the Word is the accomplishment of God’s will. God’s Word succeeds in accomplishing God’s will, every time. 

Just like it is crazy to think that Genesis 1 could read, “And God said, ‘Let there be plants,’ and nothing happened,” so also is it crazy to think that Genesis 1 could read, “And God said, ‘Let there be plants,’ but birds filled the sky instead.” Impossible. Every time God said “Let there be,” it was so. It was so just as He said. It always is.

We can always count on God’s Word succeeding in having this effect in particular: it will do everything God purposed for it to accomplish.

These last two lines of verse 11 are worth an even closer look. More literally, the third line could be translated as, “It shall accomplish that which I please.” The Hebrew verb there most concretely means “to take pleasure or delight in, or to want or desire.” Thus, we can be confident that this will be the certain effect of God’s Word: whatever pleases God.

If the third line of verse 11 affirms that God’s Word always accomplishes what is pleasing to Him, the last line affirms that God’s Word always carries out the orders of God. The Word He speaks succeeds in bringing about whatever purpose God had for saying it (and this pleases Him). We can be confident that God never wastes His breath in uttering any word. God’s words always succeed in doing God’s work and bringing about God’s will, all for God’s good pleasure. How wonderful! His words don’t just show us what His will is; His words also make His will happen.

So the next time you’re discouraged about the seeming futility of your efforts to seek and share Scripture, try to remember and rest in this promise: God’s Word is like rain.