SBConnect

Aug 2021

We have experienced some very hot and humid weather in Singapore lately! The Hungry Ghost Festival and the endless fires have further aggravated the situation! In the midst of such oppressive heat, the sudden torrential rains have been refreshing.

During a recent down pour I was reminded of a hymn we used to sing –?There shall be showers of blessing! This hymn is a powerful?reminder of God’s torrential blessings, not just physical but especially the spiritual blessings he keeps pouring upon us.

The writer said,?mercy-drops are falling but for the showers we plead!

I decided to do?some background reading concerning this song?and?what I discovered blew my mind!?The writer was Daniel Webster Whittle, born in 1840 who fought in the Civil War in America. His mother was a godly woman who prayed ceaselessly for her son’s salvation and safety. When he went into battle, she packed his haversack and placed a New Testament inside. He was wounded in the battle and had his arm amputated. While he was in recovery he reached out for his haversack and found the NT. He read the Gospel of Matthew and went all the way to the Book of Revelation, and back to the Gospel of Matthew! He was amazed that he could understand what was written and he found the Gospel message compelling. But he was not ready to receive Christ!

One day a nurse asked him to pray for a young boy in the ward who earnestly requested for prayer. Initially, he refused but when the Holy Spirit persisted within him, he went over to the boy’s bed, fell on his knees, held the boy’s hand and prayed. He confessed his own sins, sought forgiveness and received Jesus Christ into his life. Then he prayed a similar prayer for the boy… When he opened his eyes, the boy had slipped into eternity with such peace on his face. Whittle realized that moment that 2 souls were received into God’s kingdom – Whittle’s and that young boy’s!?It wasn’t?mercy–drops?that Whittle experienced but?showers of blessing!

As I thought of this remarkable story, I started praying that our almighty?God will once again open the floodgates of heaven and pour forth his blessings upon the nations of the world?– to revive his Church and bring thousands upon thousands into his kingdom, even as the time of Christ’s return draws near.

And I will make them and all the places around the hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. (Ezekiel 34:26, ESV)

There shall be showers of blessing

O that today they might fall,

Now as to God we’re confessing,

Now as on Jesus we call.

Showers of blessing,

Showers of blessing we need,

Mercy-drops round us are falling,

But for the showers we plead.