https://www.bibleleaguetrust.org/those-dark-providences-a-new-year-message/
By J.P. Thackway
“If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth” Ecclesiastes 11:3
The Authorised Version translators have helpfully summarised the first six verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 11 as “Directions for charity.” We could express it another way and call it, “Incentives to be kind and generous to others.” In these verses, Solomon illustrates this by what happens in God’s creation.
a] The seed corn on wet fields.
Verse 1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” The sower broadcasts the seed upon the rain-soaked field. It seems as if it is lost beneath the sodden earth and will come to nothing. But in time it becomes a harvest that yields much more seed for grinding, milling, and then baking into bread. Just like this, our good works are not wasted but multiplied into blessing. Albert Barnes gives a particular example: “Show hospitality, even though the corresponding return of hospitality to you may seem improbable; nevertheless, be hospitable in faith.” (See Proverbs 11:24).
b] We never know when we might need this ourselves.
Verse 2: “Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.” Those who receive our kindness will return the same to us when we are in need. Our Lord promises this: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38).
c] Clouds do not keep the water to themselves.
Verse 3a: “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth.” So the blessings we have, we should in turn share with others: “freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).
d] The felled tree stays in its place.
Verse 3b: “If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” The tree remains there that its timber might be useful to others.
e] Never be put off from doing good.
Verse 4: “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” While it is right to be wise in our charity, it is not right to be so cautious as to hinder our hearts and hands from doing good.
f] The mystery of Providence directs the good we do.
Verse 5: “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” We never know how God will bless and use our endeavours to do good. On the Last Day, we shall be genuinely surprised at how it was seen: “Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? … ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:37,40).
g] God knows how to give the increase.
Verse 6: “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” If we are not weary in well doing, in due season we shall reap if we faint not (Galatians 6:9).
Return
Let us return to one of these verses: “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth.” We can apply this in another way: as a picture of the Lord’s providential dealings with us. If the bright sky of our circumstances has turned to dark clouds, it is only that they might shower benefits from above. Dark clouds can yield us bright blessings.
The world’s adage of “every dark cloud has a silver lining” is often just vain hope. But for the Lord’s people, William Cowper’s lines speak divine certainty:
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
Let us consider the picture in this way.
Think first of the dark clouds.
We know what happens when “the clouds be full of rain.” Moisture from seas and rivers evaporates upwards, and losing heat, condenses into clouds of water droplets. Then, when they become too heavy, they fall back to earth as rain: a cloudburst. The larger the volume of water drops, the darker the clouds appear, and the heavier the rain.
This can stand for an unwelcome change.
Above us has been blue sky and sunshine. Now all is overcast with dark clouds. It Illustrates the changes that can happen in life: one day all is bright and cheerful, but the next day something happens to change it all. It was like this for King Hezekiah: “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness” (Isaiah 38:17). And Jeremiah could say, “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” (8:15).
It is like the vagaries of the British weather. Nothing stays the same. Unexpectedly, disappointment hits us. Trouble in the family breaks out. Shocking news comes. A serious health condition develops. We find ourselves in financial difficulties. Our church is rent with distressing trouble. It is, in the words of Joel 2:2 “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.”
Another aspect is that it feels colder.
The dark rain clouds obscure the sun, which is “sweet” and “pleasant” (verse 7). Our warm encouragements and comfortable feelings have gone. The warm sunlight can hardly get through to us now: “With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt” (Job 36:32). And so, dark providences chill and discomfort us, and we long for the light and warmth we once had. I wonder if this New Year only seems to promise more of this for you, dear reader? It is dark overhead, and you can look forward to nothing brighter.
Moreover, this is above us.
These are dark clouds overshadowing us. We have learned to look up for comfort and hope. Jehoshaphat did this when he led the nation in prayer concerning the approaching enemy: “we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2 Chronicles 20:12). But where is now the light of God’s countenance? It is as if the sunshine of His smile has turned into a dark frown. It is as if the gloomy adversity tells us that God Himself is against us. This fear is much worse than the grievous trouble itself. But dark providences are providences – the Lord is still there and has not forsaken us.
Let us secondly consider the bright blessings.
“If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth.” Without rain, there is drought and famine, as in Elijah’s time. Israel only had rain twice in the year: the early rain (to prepare the ground for sowing) and the latter rain (to help swell the grain for the harvest); both were promised blessings (Deuteronomy 11:14). We can learn from this some encouraging truths.
Firstly, the Lord has not changed towards us.
Despite dark clouds, the sun is still there, behind those clouds. A flight in an aircraft shows this. When it climbs above the clouds, all is suddenly bright and clear, blue sky and sunshine. And just as surely, the Lord is still with us in favour though we do not see this. Never imagine that because circumstances have changed, the Lord must have changed. Circumstances only affect us, not Him. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6). The Puritans used to say that we “Cannot tell God’s heart from His hand.” Remember what Cowper wrote:
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
All the dark providences in the world do not change the benediction under which, by grace, we always live: “The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:26).
Secondly, there is love in this.
The rain is in the sky for the benefit of the earth below. When Barnabas and Paul proclaimed “the living God” to the heathen at Lystra, to show His love they declared: “he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). We cannot live without rain from above; those dark clouds bring this indispensable blessing to us. The dark clouds are only there to give us that rain. And the dark providences are as much the evidence of God’s love as the bright ones.
Thirdly, rain does not hurt.
Inconvenient and uncomfortable it might be – giving just a wetting or at worst a chill – but it does not harm us. There is only one thing that can harm the Christian. In Bunyan’s Holy War, a moving speech by Prince Emmanuel reminds us of what it is:
O my Mansoul, I have lived, I have died, I live, and I will die no more for thee. I live that thou mayest not die. Because I live, thou shalt live also; I reconciled thee to My Father by the blood of My cross, and being reconciled thou shalt live through Me. I will pray for thee, I will fight for thee, I will yet do thee good. Nothing can hurt thee but sin; nothing can grieve Me but sin; nothing can make thee base before thy foes but sin; take heed of sin, my Mansoul.
Fourthly, the dark clouds hold the benefit.
The menacing rain clouds contain the good that comes to us from them. The darker they are, the more rain comes. They threaten one thing but give another. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
What are these benefits?
The pouring rain makes us run for cover.
And to whom can we go for shelter and safety but the Lord? He is spoken of by the prophet like this: “There shall be … a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain” (Isaiah 4:6). If dark providences drive us closer to Him, they will be blessed to us. A man who had suffered persecution shared how it was blessed to him: “But it doesn’t matter, for I’ve known God and they haven’t.”
The Puritan John Owen reminds us: “Did you never run for shelter in a storm, and find fruit which you expected not? Did you never go to God for safeguard, driven by outward storms, and there find unexpected fruit?” If we understand the message in this verse, we shall say, “Yes, I did.”
It produces growth.
Everything in nature depends upon rainfall: there can be no growth nor fruit without it. And we can only spiritually thrive under the equivalent: “Thou shalt be like a watered garden” (Isa.58:11). How can we bring forth “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) or “the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11) if the sun always shines? Last summer, among the three hottest and driest on record, was not helpful to either farmers or gardeners.
When the earth is watered, seeds are fertilised, plants grow, a verdant change comes over the face of the ground. As it is in nature, so it is in grace. Spiritual growth and gracious evidences begin to appear. The secret, inward work of the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus and He becomes more real to us. Job, Jacob and Joseph all testify to dark clouds and bright blessings. And so will we if we ask the Lord to sanctify our troubles and turn them into treasures of grace.
The clouds are not always there.
They come, and they go when they have fulfilled their purpose and the sun shines again. The poets have expressed it beautifully, as Anna Letitia Waring,
Green pastures are before me
Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been:
My hope I cannot measure,
My path to life is free;
My Saviour has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.
And George Matheson,
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
Let James Smith have the last word: “He can make thy greatest troubles prove thy choicest blessings; He can give thee cause to bless Him through eternity, for thy sorest trials. O, trust Him, and fear not!”
by Rev John Thackway, Pastor of Emmanuel Church, Salisbury
Used with kind permission of the author
