"Let It Rain"

“Let It Rain” Joel 2:23-30

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for. --Joseph Addison

1. According to our text we find happiness because WE have something to Do? Let It Rain

rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.E He sends you abundant showers,

both autumn and spring rains, as before.

• “Lord, rain on us!” We need the rain of the Holy Ghost in our lives like never before.

• During a good rain, vegetation is nourished, animals are nourished, the grass gets greener; rain refreshes the land.

• Rain causes things to grow and be fruitful. We as well need to be nourished and refreshed.

• We need God to rain on us to make us fruitful for His kingdom.

• There comes a time in every person's life they experience a drought of some type.

• It may be the drought of health when it seems like there is no end in sight to your physical problems.

• It may be the drought of finances when it seems like the bills are coming in faster than the money to pay them.

• It may be the drought of your occupation because you have lost the enjoyment of doing what you do for a living.

• But of all the droughts I can think of, probably the worst is a spiritual drought.

• We have something to do Let it Rain God says 23Be glad, O people of Zion, I am sending abundant showers.

2. Our Text claims we have happiness because We Have Something To Love

- It is the Gladness God Brings 2:23Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God,

- They can Love God because He Sends He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

- They Can Love God because God gives back what has been taken 25"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten

- They can Love God because they will have Plenty 26You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you;

3. Israel finds Happiness because they and WE Have Something to Hope for that God is Present

• 27Then you will know that I am in Israel,

• We have the hope that God is and there is NO Other that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other;

• We have the Hope of an out pouring of His Spirit 28"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

• We have the hope of The Day of the Lord the Day He Pours Out vs 30 - 31

A. The day is described by Isaiah the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. 16Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field.

B. The day is described by Jeremiah as the day the Lord Pours out God s self, forgiveness, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

In conclusion:

1. Thank God we have something to do “Let it Rain”

2. Thank God we have something to Love “our God”

3. Thank God we have something to Hope for “God is with us”.