"And the earth helped the woman" (Rev. 12:16)
In Genesis, when the dragon tries to wipe out the seed of the woman with worldwide famine, the earth helps her by producing plenty for years before that, enabling Joseph to store warehouses with plenty to ride out years of drought and make the nation rich and powerful.
Even before that, at creation, a humiliated fallen archangel decided to break the seal of God's earth's "moisturizing bubble", the cooling mist protecting everything's temperature and humidity. But he'd sent eruptions of volcanic ash into the air and molten lava bubbling up from the ground, black tar oozing down through the mountain ravines. The creation of God, he must've felt with venomous mirth, would be destroyed.
But the earth STOPPED then too. Temperatures cooled, and nature still obeyed the Maker, resuming the quality of solidifying from gaseous-liquid-molten-to rock hard and no longer harmful form. Human creatures call this petrifaction.
When the Creator formed other tiny life forms to serve Him, the enemy smiled to see their hearts were turning only evil continually, and God repented making them too. The red dragon cast out water from his mouth to destroy them. But somehow, the earth sent out a call to its animals and sent out emissaries to enter a rescue ark.
Also, of the many creations populating the earth, a handful (eight, to be exact) of humans went on board this ark so were untouched by the drowning scheme of the enemy. The archangel's ploy of murder had been foiled and would never succeed, it was promised and sealed, a bow in the sky given as a sign.
Oh yes -- the enemy had attempted to drown the creation with water. A heavenly Father knew how to divide all that water into droplets surrounding dust particles, called rain, in such a way it does not harm but merely wets then merely falls to earth, and gives it the nourishment it needs. (Added note: God fashioned rain such that it can replenish man's need for water without once causing dismay that he is being exposed to an "attack of drowning"!)
The "earth helped the woman." How many times has it been seen that it is after rains that the prettiest flowers come out,
after floods and natural catastrophes that the ground will have been turned and enriched, made stronger and healthier than before? How many humans, because of earthly catastrophes, had their eyes opened to truer values, learned to work together more than they did before the floods came?
Joseph's Storehouses; the Acts 9 Basket for Paul; Schindler's List; every time there is attempt of the wicked one to destroy, we can see God snaps His fingers, and the earth sends help. Met needs, fulfilled promises, and unexpected blessings are given to us from God's Hand every time. You almost hope the dragon will keep dowsing Christians with his floods of tribulation, because you know earth will help and God's blessing are sure to follow.
I said ALMOST.
