This is the season of abundant rain (2), By Ayo Akerele

Turning Small Clouds into Big Rains

It is much easier to work with God when the big rains are falling. Big rains stand for big miracles, great blessings, big favours, great doors. Who doesn’t love a God that opens such doors? But when small clouds appear when you are expecting big rains, what do you do?

“Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you” (1 Kings 18:44)

In this season of abundant rain, you need to understand that your massive rain may be ushered in by small clouds. In fact, God told us clearly in His words to not despise small things.

“For who has despised the day of small things? Zecha 4:10

“Though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end should greatly increase” (Job 8:7)

In fact, the Bible uses the example of Mustard seeds, the smallest seed that eventually produces the biggest tree (Mark 4:30-31)

Small clouds generally come with some attributes. They are generally despised-if it’s God it should be big

1. They are difficult to discern. They can be missed
2. ⁠⁠They can be the result of long hours or years of praying (Elijah prayed and got a small cloud)
3. ⁠They can weaken one’s faith

But wise and spiritual people know that when God is there, that small cloud is the main deal. Let’s look at people

1. God visited with small clouds in the Bible
2. ⁠Widow of zarephat—1 Kings 17:12
3. ⁠⁠The wife of the poor prophet—2 Kings 4:2
4. ⁠Moses’s rod—Exodus 4:2
5. ⁠Jacob’s rod—Genesis 32:10
6. ⁠David’s sling and stone—1 Samuel 17:40
7. ⁠The little lad’s five loaves and two fishes, John 6-9

So many examples of little clouds, very basic things that people had, but because of faith in God and the word of the Lord spoken out, these little clouds became mighty rain of blessings and breakthroughs.

How to turn our clouds to mighty rains

1. Recognize the cloud, not all clouds are your clouds (1 Kings 18:44)
2. ⁠Never despise it like the isrealites did, calling God’s manna, this manner, “but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” (Numbers 11:6)
3. ⁠Do not observe the wind once you see the cloud. Act by faith and start working on the small cloud (1 Kings 17:10-12)
4. ⁠Never allow anyone to speak down on it
5. ⁠Stay there, don’t quit. It’s called consistency (Luke 9:62, “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

The heavy rain will fall from the small cloud.

100 Fold Harvest

“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him” (Genesis 26:12)

Isaac’s life is a clear example of what God’s rain does to our lives, it gives us a hundred fold returns. Now we don’t transact business with God. Our motive for serving God should be based on love and obedience to Him. However, it is not a sin to live with a positive and faith based expectation for a reward. To serve God with the motivation for a reward is also not a sin, but such motivations must not outpace our love for serving Him.

In other words, even if the reward does not come on time or does not come at all, we still love Him. That was what Jesus tested in Peter in John 21:14-17

But in scriptures, we see God promising a hundred fold blessings to His children. For this season of rain, we want God to give us a hundred fold blessings. What is an hundred fold blessing? Is this a hundred times of what we have? Not so in all cases

In Genesis 26:12, God gave Isaac a hundred fold actual numerical returns. But in other scenarios in the Bible, it was not like that.

“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” Matthew 13:8

But in Matthew 13:29 and Mark 10:29-30, hear what the Bible says, “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

What then is a hundred fold harvest? Maximum productivity, fullness of harvest, completeness of harvest

1. No underutilisation of God’s grace on your life
2. ⁠No underutilisation of God’s opportunities in your life
3. ⁠No underutilisation of God’s mercies, riches, and goodness
4. ⁠No underutilisation of God’s word in your life

Nothing is worse than living below heaven’s potentials in this season. Harvesting lower than the seeds you’ve sown

1. You have sown the seeds of prayer into your children for decades, but can barely harvest any blessings from them, not me
2. ⁠You have sown the seeds of the faith in God for many years, but can hardly boast of any answers to prayers in your life, not me
3. ⁠You have sown the seeds of help and mercy into many people’s lives over the years, but can hardly experience mercy and help from others when you are in need, not me
4. ⁠You have worked hard, laboured in the ministry for years, but can hardly see any results of any kind. Not me

That is a very serious crises. Connecting to God’s rain in this season is to bring out maximum productivity in your life. Harvesting the fullness of God’s mercies.

A hundred fold harvest isn’t just a wish or a prayer point, but an actionable responsibility. Not every believer maximised God’s grace on their lives. We see an example in Matthew 25:14-30. To preserve, maximize God’s grace, and achieve a hundred fold harvest in this season, here is what to do:

1. Recognize the need for harvest. Understand that A hundred fold harvest is not for you alone. If it is for you alone, you don’t need it. You can’t just be sowing and not harvesting. Jesus said, “I have power to lay down and I have power to take it up again (John 10:18). Jesus sowed His life into God’s plans of salvation. He harvested His life back.
2. ⁠Prepare for harvest, borrow vessels and create capacities (spiritual and physical networks, education, mental development)
3. ⁠Pray for laborers and helpers (Matthew 9:38) Your desired harvest will always be bigger than you to warrant the help of other people. We see this in Luke 5. Prayer draws helpers
4. ⁠Shut the door (2 Kings 4:4)
5. ⁠Sell/Trade the harvested crops

A hundred fold harvest is not for you alone. If it is for you alone, you don’t need it. Your heart must be rooted in the service of the kingdom to know that God wants you to maximize His talents, grace, opportunities, open doors for the sake of the gospel, others, and yourself, not for yourself alone.

Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen Ministries in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]