CLOUDS WITHOUT RAIN

 BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO

“A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain” (Proverbs 25:14 New Living Translation).

Clouds and wind that bring no rain – that is the condition of many lives today. “Clouds without rain” is the correct description of many lives. They hold promises but cannot deliver. Their lives fall short of the promises or potentials they hold. The life they live is contrary to the promises they carry. “Broken promises are worse than the rain clouds that don’t bring rain”(Proverbs 25:14 Contemporary English Version).

The Bible says the entire creation earnestly awaits the manifestation of the sons of God(Romans 8:19). But those who are clouds without rain, disappoint people’s expectations of them.

In 1 Kings 18:45, the Bible says, “And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel” (New Living Translation).  The ideal thing people expect to happen when the sky is black with clouds is for the rain to fall. They would feel disappointed if no rain falls after all.  But destinies that are clouds without rain do have their skies black with clouds but no rain falls eventually. That means their potentials never become a reality; they never fulfill their destinies! Their clouds never produce rain! That shall not be your story in Jesus’ name. And if that’s your present condition, an end shall come to it in Jesus’ name. Your sky shall produce rain.

Look at another scripture: “He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight” (Job 26:8). Thick clouds usually raise people’s expectations that rain will fall. Many times, these thick clouds result in rain. But destinies without rains are potentials that never manifest as reality. “The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed” (Psalm 77:17 New Living Translation). Your clouds shall pour down rain; it will not become thick clouds that just disappear.

Jude, speaking on the danger of false teachers, also refers to clouds without rain. In verse 12, Jude says, “They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain” (New Living Translation). Of what use are such clouds? Clouds, thick clouds, or sky black with clouds, don’t bless humanity until they release the rain that is wrapped in them, as said in Job 26:8 I cited earlier. Clouds without rain are useless. Until the rain of your destiny begins to fall, your generation, and even generations after you, are not going to be blessed.

When rain falls, mankind feels it. “The rain pours down from the clouds, and everyone benefits” (Job 36:28 New Living Translation). People are refreshed by the change in weather. Plants that appear dead before will come back to life because the thirst of the soil is quenched, as it drinks water to satisfaction! That is what happens through people whose destinies are pouring out what heaven has loaded them with, not for themselves, but for others that were destined to be blessed through them. You carry something that heaven has deposited in the sky of your destiny – clouds wrapped with rain that must fall to bless others, just as others are supposed to bless you, too, with what God has loaded the skies of their destinies with.

People may not understand or value what you carry, but God knows, and you must take yourself seriously. The sky of your destiny must break loose before you leave this earth. Your clouds must not stop at being black, it must be delivered of the rain it is pregnant with. “By his understanding he let the ocean break loose and clouds release the rain” (Proverbs 3:20 Contemporary English Version).

Clouds blown by windstorm

2 Peter 2:17 speaks of “clouds blown by a windstorm” (Contemporary English Version). The Message speaks of “storm-scattered clouds.” That means the rain the clouds carried was blown away or scattered with the clouds, and humanity was denied the blessing of the rain. Clouds without rain dash the people’s hope of rainfall. This shall not be your portion – your clouds will release rain in the name of Jesus. Your destiny will give rain to bless your generation. You won’t become clouds without rain. You won’t raise people’s hope in vain. Those whose blessings are tied to your destiny won’t be disappointed. Those who are waiting for you to arise, shine, will see your light and the glory of the LORD risen upon you – they won’t wait in vain. The rain of your destiny will fall.

If the clouds of someone’s destiny are carried by a tempest or windstorm, he’ll never become who God wants him to be. Satan sends all manners of storm against people’s destinies to ensure that their lives come short of God’s design. He brings all kinds of crises just to make them derail; he destabilizes them, gives them wrong focus, and makes some chase shadows. That is why you need to feed your spirit with the Word of God and pray to know God’s purpose for your life. You need to come against satanic forces that want to invade your life with tempest, just to scatter the clouds of your life that should pour rain to bless your generation.

It’s God who gives rain

In Job 38, God, speaking with Job about rain, asked him some vital questions.  “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?  Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?” (Job 38:25-28 New Living Translation).

The answer to these questions is God. Rain doesn’t fall without God – it is the work of His hand. What is the relevance of that to this message? The clouds of your destiny will never be able to deliver rain to bless your generation, and indeed generations to come, apart from God. It is working in cooperation with God, abiding in Him that can make you maximize your potentials. It is living your life according to the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit that can make you become who God wants you to be.

Without God, you can still become something! But it will never be what He wants you to be. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. ‘Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned’” (John 15:4-6 New Living Translation).  You won’t become useless in Jesus’ name.

Sometimes rain wreaks havoc, as we find in the case of floods. Your rain shall not wreak havoc; it shall bless people. That’s why you must be born again if you haven’t. This shall prevent Satan from corrupting your destiny.

Your rain shall Resume

It’s possible for someone’s rain to have fallen in the past but it was stopped. Job remembered when his rain was still falling, when his destiny was manifesting, blessing others. Recalling the “good old days,” he said, “Everyone listened to my advice. They were silent as they waited for me to speak. And after I spoke, they had nothing to add, for my counsel satisfied them. They longed for me to speak as people long for rain. They drank my words like a refreshing spring rain” (Job 29:21-23New Living Translation).

Here was a man who had seen good days in the past. However, at the time of uttering these statements, he was in a miserable condition. He had lost everything – children, companions, possessions, good health, etc. But the LORD later restored all to him. “So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers. Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life” (Job 42:12-17 New Living Translation). I love that! That means Job’s rain fell again. The clouds of his destiny that were scattered were gathered again and his rain fell. His life became a blessing again, as it had been before the tragedies that befell him.

Maybe you’re like Job today. The rain of your destiny was falling before, but Satan stopped it – through your sin, carelessness, demonic attacks, etc.  God is able to gather the clouds of your life again. He can still cause your life to be a blessing to people again.  It was not over for Job; it is not yet over for you. You may not be a blameless man – a man of complete integrity– like Job, but the Merciful God will forgive you your sins if you repent and ask for His forgiveness. He’ll put together the broken pieces of your life and make you a blessing to your generation again.

The sun of Job shone again. Your sun shall shine again if you’ll come to Jesus today, as I lead you to do that at the end of this message. The clouds of your destiny won’t only deliver rain, the rain shall never stop. No devil shall stop it. Ecclesiastes 11:3 says, “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth” (New King James Version).

As I round off, I want to pray for you: Your clouds will empty all their rains. You’ll depart this earth emptying all the rain in the clouds of your destiny! In the name of Jesus, your destiny will not be blown away by the storm of life. The evil wind shall not scatter the clouds of your life. Your clouds shall deliver their rains.  If an evil windstorm has scattered the clouds of your life before now, the clouds shall be gathered again. Those who are anxiously waiting for your rain won’t wait in vain. Your life will bless the people it is supposed to bless. Your fig tree shall not have only leaves; they shall bear fruits for humanity to eat. Your life shall be a blessing to many. Those whose rest is tied to your rest won’t die in struggles – you’ll enter your rest for them to enter into their rest. So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Amen!

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org