Story time!

In the last couple of weeks, I was in Taiwan for a mission trip; we were mainly running children's activities and having conversations with them. On one of the days, we walked over to the next village to play and take photos, and the kids had loads of fun and really enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately, on our way back, it started to rain really heavily. We had little choice but to seek shelter—and the only shelter available was a nearby Taoist altar! What a place to rest at!

At this point, the team and I were kind of in a fix, and we didn't know what to do. We tried telling the kids a Bible story while waiting for the rain to subside, but every time we started, they would get distracted and start talking about something else. We also thought about just making a dash for it, but it was too long a distance, and the rain was only getting heavier and heavier. I prayed for God to hold the rain, but in my heart I was kind of non-committal ("It'd be really nice God, but it's fine even if You don't..."). What would you do in such a situation?

Out of the blue, H, one of the kids, prayed: "Jesus, please stop the rain!" We had been telling the kids about how we can talk to Jesus in any situation, and in his innocent childlikeness he uttered this simple one-liner. And to our surprise, the rain lightened up into a drizzle almost immediately! The kids were delighted and ecstatic that prayer to Jesus really works, but I think the team was even more surprised that God answered in such a clear and immediate way!

And so in the midst of the joy from this miracle we started walking back to our village. Along the way, the rain would get heavier again, and H would pray again and it would immediately lighten. This happened a couple of times, and then H finally prayed for God to hold the rain until we got back to our house. And so we walked in a comfortable drizzle all the way back, and after we had arrived, the skies just went into a full-force torrent of rainpour—God had really answered prayer!

This event was amazing for so many reasons: God moved clearly, demonstrating His might over nature; God moved immediately, demonstrating that He is ever-listening; and God moved at the simple prayer of a child, demonstrating that He does listen to everyone, and not just the super-holy or whatever. It really reminded me of Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Ki 18:16–46), where God's power was so undeniable that the people immediately fell and praised God (v39).

I think this incident was really faith-building—both for the kids, who were just starting to learn about God, and for the team, whose faith was strengthened and renewed in response to this miracle. I hope this little story encourages you too—God truly is the Almighty who leans in to hear our every prayer!

– alvin(:

Jack Wellman – What Does Water Represent In The Bible? A Christian Study

Water is frequently used in biblical imagery—think of the rivers in Eden, of Noah and the flood, of the partings of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, of the still waters of Ps 23, of the living water offered by Jesus, the streams of living water in Revelation... In this short study, Jack Wellman highlights some symbolic uses of water in the Bible, which I think is also a great reminder of how the entirety of Scripture is God-breathed and is thus consistent across different books and eras. If this short article piques your interest, Richard Patterson offers a much more in depth (but also much longer!) study into water imagery here.

Andrew Huang – Water

Andrew Huang is an incredibly prolific and creative musician whose style spans just about every musical genre you could think of, and he often makes music using unconventional methods. Here he uses water sounds of various kinds to craft a beautiful love song, and it's a great demonstration of creativity in music-making. He also has a behind-the-scenes of how he made the track here, which you should really check out if you're interested in music production!

When Jesus calmed the storm, His disciples were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" (Matt 8:27) Indeed, if we know who Jesus is, we'd certainly trust Him to still the winds and waves in our lives!

Over and out!