Hosea 6:1-3King James Version (KJV)

6 Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

You know that rain? The shower that comes up and cools everything off? That one that feels perfectly refreshing? So much so, you just want to go outside and walk around in it and soak it all in? That rain.

That rain is refreshing anytime. But, when you haven't had rain in a long time, you get to the point where you're looking for it...anticipating it...longing for it.

There are times when the Word of God comes in like a storm. It clears out debris, breaks off old growth. It stirs up the muck that has settled into bad habits in our lives. And when it passes through, we're forced to do storm clean up and repair, throwing out things we may have thought we needed but in fact were just in the way.

There are times when the Word comes and its just a cloudburst. It whets our appetite for brief moment, causing us to set aside whatever care we were obsessing over and gives us the freedom to reset priorities.

Then, there's times when we've experienced what feels like a spiritual drought. When it seems like we've only received enough from Heaven to get by, but not enough to produce anything, let alone a harvest, when, at last, the sky changes, and the wind comes and you can smell the rain.

You can smell the rain. This isn't a cloudburst. This isn't a storm. This is that gentle, soaking rain that saturates everything above and below. This is that Word of God that changes the deserts in our lives to a carpet of blooms. The one that takes a creek and makes it into a river. This is THAT rain. The one you've been waiting for. The one that you didn't know you needed until you could smell it coming.

Loved ones, feel the rain. Let it permeate and saturate everything in and around you. Let it wash away the dust and feed the seed that have been planted in your life. Accept the rain and let it wash over you.

Put off whatever was between you and God. Let the wounds be tended and enjoy that the morning was prepared just for you. Let His Word soak in and bring forth what's new and wonderful. Just let the Lord come as a former and latter rain in your life.

Smell that? The rain is coming.

Lifeline is produced from the Evangelistic Ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. You are encouraged to share this message. The Fellowship Church website (www.youarechosen.net) includes a link to the Lifeline Blog (www.lifelineatfellowship.blogspot.com) where you can find previous messages.

Evangelist Robinson also posts her entries on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to the mailing, or for questions and comments, tweet (@evangeliststeff) or send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com.