Cloud Seeding

Cloud seeding is an experimental method used to cause rain to fall; silver iodide or dry ice has been dumped into clouds in an effort to change its properties and create a rain shower. If you are a farmer experiencing a severe drought, you might try just about anything to get rain. Efforts to change the weather and increase precipitation have led some scientists, meteorologists, and even commercial companies to develop a way to encourage water to fall from the sky. The original idea was to “seed” clouds with tiny particles whose electrical charge would bring together the cloud’s water droplets. When enough droplets come together, their weight would cause rain to drop.

Most commercial outfits emphasize they cannot break droughts but only enhance the conditions in the atmosphere and make it more likely to rain. When thunderstorms approach, these rain makers send up planes to seed the “inflow” part of the clouds that suck up moisture, hoping the particles collide with water vapor and condense into raindrops. Recent research has shown that airplanes that simply pass through clouds appear to create more rain and snow as they punch holes in the clouds, creating a super-cooling effect on water molecules.

Though there are many skeptics on the process of rainmaking, the desire for water to come down from the sky has existed for thousands of years. The most famous biblical weather change during a drought took place during the time of King Ahab. When Elijah confronted the wicked king, he said, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). No matter how many rain dances and spells were performed by the prophets of Baal, it did not rain.

But something changed. When Elijah had a showdown with these false prophets (whose gods supposedly controlled the weather) on top of Mount Carmel, God exposed the emptiness of their religion. After they were destroyed, Elijah promised Ahab it would rain again. Then he prayed for rain. Seven times he asked his servant to look toward the sea until a rain cloud appeared. Rain eventually drenched the land. Like Ahab’s false prophets, people who boast and make promises of generosity but do not follow through are like clouds that pass over a drought stricken land yet never rain. They bring only dashed hopes and withered expectations. As followers of the Lord, let’s always follow through on our pledges to give.

Additional reading: Proverbs 25:1–14

Key Bible Texts

Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain. (Proverbs 25:14 KJV)