MAKE IT RAIN
United Arab Emirates meteorological officials released a video of cars driving through a downpour in Ras al Khaimah in the northern part of the country. What made it unusual was that the storm resulted from their efforts to increase rainfall in the desert nation.
Scientists created rainstorms by launching drones that zapped clouds with electricity. Jolting droplets in clouds can cause them to clump together. The resulting larger raindrops fall to the ground instead of evaporating in midair, which often happens to smaller droplets in UAE where temperatures are hot and clouds are high.
The researchers built four drones with wingspans of about six and a half feet. During the flight the drone’s sensors measured temperature, humidity and electrical charge within the cloud. So, the researchers knew when and where they needed to zap.
Water is a big issue in the UAE. Their annual rainfall is only about four inches a year. But the country uses about 4 billion cubic meters of water each year. And the number of people living there has skyrocketed. In the last fifteen years the population has grown from around 4 million to almost 10 million.
It usually just rains a few days in the entire year. And during the summer there’s almost no rainfall while temperatures can reach 125 degrees. 42% of all the water used in the country comes from 70 desalination plants. Desalination transforms seawater into freshwater by removing the salt.
Their other ideas to try and get more water include building a mountain to create rainfall. Floating icebergs down from the artic. And constructing a pipeline from Pakistan. There is also a “water security strategy” to try and lower demand by 21% over the next fifteen years.
James 5:17-18 tell us, “Elijah was just as human as we are, and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling. But when he did pray for rain, it fell from the skies and made the crops grow.”
God can bring rain or stop it. We cannot. Our efforts to try and control nature can never really succeed. In fact, our attempts to control much in life are futile. Trusting God with our lives and future is the only way to live. The more we manipulate, the less life works best for us.
Desperate attempts usually result in unpleasant consequences. The more we try to control, the less we live in peace. As the old children’s song says, “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”