The Day Jesus Stopped the Rain

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

Philippians 2:9-11

In March of 2003, I arrived in Mexico City for my first missions trip. I was assigned to work in the dental area and was asked to assist a national dentist. I remember thinking how much I would have liked to be working in the aspect of nursing, since I was in the middle of nursing school. But something told me that the Lord had different plans. It would prove to be a phenomenal experience working with Dr. Ismael, one that would have lasting effects on my relationship with Jesus Christ.

One afternoon while we worked, Dr. Ismael shared with us the importance of stepping out in faith. He told us one evening he wanted God to show Himself to him. He called out to the Lord with boldness. That evening, it was pouring rain outside of his Mexico City home and he recalls running out in the middle of street with the rain pouring down, raising his arms up to the heaven, and crying out with a loud voice, “If you are really hearing me, then stop the rain.” He said instantly the rain stopped. I remember just being taken back by the whole thought of being bold with the Lord like that. I felt the fear of the Lord. As I sat there, this thought of boldly asking the Lord to show Himself to me started turning in my spirit. I asked Dr. Ismael question after question, “Didn’t you get scared testing the Lord like that?” He told me something that really changed me. He said, “No, God wants to show His power to you, and more than that, He wants you to ask Him.”

The afternoon came to a close, but Dr. Ismael’s testimony continued to move about in my spirit long after I left the field that day. I treasured the thought of asking God to reveal Himself to me in more powerful ways. Deep in my heart, I thought, “Does God really want to show Himself to me?” If He did, I was longing to experience Him.

For the next several days, I searched the scriptures to come to some peace. I first went to the Old Testament. There I found the work of the Lord through the prophet Elijah.

And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your Word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Kings 18:36-39

Here I saw how the Lord showed Himself so others would know that He was the One True God. The Holy Spirit then prompted me to the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament. You see, the Old Testament and the New Testament confirm each other. If I found the Lord showing Himself in the Old Testament, I knew I would find it also in the New Testament.

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Mark 4:37-41

At the rebuke of His mighty voice, the Lord controlled the wind and rain, just like Dr. Ismael had shared with us in Mexico City. But I said to myself, “Yes, but that was Jesus.” Again, the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit, “Turn to Luke 10:19.”

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19.

This authority that Jesus walked on the earth with was now transferred to me at Pentecost and I had the Word of God to prove it! Even serpents are under my feet. To me, it was confirmed. The rain would even obey me at the Name of Jesus. Not by my strength, but by the Spirit who lives in me day by day. For the first time in my Christian life, I knew this deep in my spirit.

I left Mexico City after 10 days and returned to my life in the little rural town of Loyal, Wisconsin. For me, life would never be the same after what the Lord had showed me on the mission field in Mexico and through His Word. More than that, I knew I had an awesome responsibility for Chad and Charlie, my four year old twins. The Lord showed this to me in 2Timothy and it literally jumped off the page into my heart.

When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also 2Timothy 1:5

It was up to me to show my sons the awesome works of Jesus Christ by faith and I knew it with all of my heart. I was on a mission to bring the faith that was in me to my sons and the salvation that Jesus had given me just three years before.

That’s when the awesome Day of the Lord happened. I remember it like yesterday. I can still smell the rain that fell on the hot asphalt of the grocery store parking lot. It wasn’t long after my return from Mexico City and the thoughts of God showing Himself to me were still moving about in my heart. The rain was coming down in sheets and it smelled so fresh and beautiful. But all I thought about was how wet I was going to get going into Festival Foods since there was no close parking place in sight. I drove around and around looking for that perfect parking spot right up in the front. It wasn’t looking good. I warned the boys to prepare themselves because were about to get wet. It was then that I believe the Holy Spirit put these perfect words in the mouth of my son. Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength Psalm 8:2. Chad voiced his heart to me and it was profound. He said with his little voice, “Why don’t we pray, mom?” It was then the Holy Spirit moved in my spirit and faith welled up inside of me so much so that I felt I could, by the authority of Jesus Christ, do anything. Inside of me, rose up this boldness in the Lord. I said to my sons, “Do you believe if command the rain to stop in the Name of Jesus that it would?” Both of them in unison answered, “Yes, we believe." As those words fell off of my lips, I wanted to bite my tongue. Why did I just say that? What was I going to do now? What if the Lord didn’t perform? Deep inside was this small seed of faith. The Lord met us where we were and took our child-like faith and moved mountains. What happened next would change my little 4 year olds to turn their hearts to the Lord and believe in the power of that beautiful Name...Jesus.

I said with all the authority that Jesus Christ had given me through the Cross, “Then in the Name of Jesus, I command the rain to stop.” As if a faucet had been turned off, the rain stopped instantly. It felt as though the world had stopped and everything was still for a moment. The black clouds separated and disintegrated like food coloring being dropped into a glass of water. The smell of rain filled the car, but not a drop fell from the sky. I heard the gasps from the back seat as my sons saw the mighty authority of Jesus. It was as if a light bulb turned on and they saw the Light. I could literally see it on their faces. They saw the power of Jesus Christ and were able to experience it.

This rain experience would prove to be pivotal in their conversion. A couple days later, I felt a prompting from the Lord to share with Charlie and Chad the saving faith of Jesus Christ. Even at 4 years old, the Lord worked in their hearts in such a simple way. It shouldn’t be a surprise…if the rocks knew it, God would give these little boys the wisdom to praise Him. There in my apartment as we sat and folded laundry, I shared with them how much Jesus loves them and how much He wanted to share eternity with them. In the center of our living room, Charlie and Chad prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts and were saved from their sin.

Charlie and Chad are 11 years old now and are growing in the Word every day. Even after all of these years, they still bring up the day that Jesus stopped the rain with all of His authority. They can give me details about where we were and everything they felt that day. This power that Jesus showed them brought them to know the One True God and receive the forgiveness that we all desperately need. It not only brought them to know Him, but they continue to hunger and thirst for more of God and His Word.

I write this to encourage you to use every opportunity to point your kids to Jesus. Continuously show them that Jesus is the answer to all of life’s problems and all of life’s goodness. If your kids are looking for real love, real answers, real truth, Jesus is the real deal.