“Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” – Malachi 3:10b (NIV)

Floodgates are the conduits of the blessing of God from heaven to earth. But what opens those floodgates has nothing to do with physical strength or even intelligence. Trust opens the floodgates of heaven to allow God’s blessing on the earth. God says, “Test me in this.” He is inviting us to have faith in who he is and what he can and will do. He wants to open the floodgates of heaven and bless us, but we have to believe he will do it.

2 Kings 7 tells the story of Elisha prophesying the end of a famine in Samaria. A smug servant of the king responds to Elisha saying, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” (v. 2) That man didn’t live to see another day, but the rest of Samaria lived to see the famine ended in short order.

God sent a miracle out through the floodgates of heaven and onto the earth. He used four desperate lepers with nothing to lose and sent a spirit of confusion to scatter an army, leaving behind all their supplies and provisions. It all came about after the Word of the Lord was declared because these lepers said to one another, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” They had something deep down inside of them saying, “Take a chance! What’s the worst that could happen?”

When we come to the end of ourselves and we are still in desperate need, we can learn something from these lepers. What’s the worst that could happen if we place our trust in God? Doesn’t his Word say if we test him in his ability to provide that he will open the floodgates of heaven? I say, Let it Rain!