22nd February 2022

Rain was moving in from the south, and I was sitting outside, waiting for the drops to fall. When they did, I was determined not to go inside until I felt a raindrop on my tongue. (I’m not sure what my neighbours thought of me, sitting there with my head tilted back, and mouth open.) I felt plenty of drops hit my face, and a few on my lips, but not one fell into my mouth. I wondered if rain gauges experienced the same phenomenon: it’s raining, but not if you decide the case by the gauge.

It made me wonder if many of God’s gifts go unregistered. We have our standard gauges to register His mercies, like food on our table and a warm bed at night, etc, but how many blessings fall outside the range, and pass unnoticed and therefore unacknowledged? It made me think that I must only recognise a small portion of what God sends, and owe Him more thanks than I give.

In reflecting upon the mighty geographical and astronomical works of God, Job once remarked: “And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?” I do picture Job in a pose a little more sophisticated than sitting in a chair with his head back and mouth open! But he is right. O the immensity of God! And how much more there is to Him than we know.

DM 22^nd February 2022