The Joburg Rainy Season and Your Quiet Time: Five Practical Adjustments for November to March

If you have lived in Johannesburg for more than a summer, you know the hour. Around three o'clock in the afternoon, usually between mid-November and the end of March, the sky over the Magaliesberg darkens in a way no other African sky does. The light goes yellow. The jacarandas go still. The first thunder rolls in from the west, and within twenty minutes the kind of rain that turns Joburg streets into rivers is falling on your roof.

What the Highveld Summer Actually Does to Your Devotional Life

The Days Get Longer, but Energy Gets Lower

In November, the sun sets in Johannesburg around 6:45pm. By the end of January, it is after 8pm. The longer days feel like they should give us more time. In practice, they do the opposite.

Load-Shedding Has a Different Shape in Summer

Eskom's summer schedule tends to push outages into the late afternoon and early evening — exactly the slot most people have historically used for their personal quiet time.

People Travel

December in Johannesburg is a city of empty offices. The Bible study community in Parkmore in mid-December is not the Bible study community in Parkmore in mid-March.

Schools Close, and the Calendar Splits

For families with school-aged children, the four weeks between early December and mid-January split the calendar in two.

The New Year Comes in January, but the New Rhythm Comes in February

The Bible study community in Johannesburg does not really start the new year in January. It starts in the second week of February.

Five Practical Adjustments for the Rainy Season

1. Move Your Quiet Time to the Morning, Even Temporarily

The hour between 5:30am and 7am, when the Highveld sky is still cool and the children are still asleep, is the most reliable quiet hour in a Johannesburg summer.

2. Get a Rain-Friendly Bible

A paperback Bible in a zip-lock bag. Or a Bible app on your phone with the offline download enabled. The YouVersion app works without signal, which means it works when the load-shedding has killed the WiFi.

3. Make the Wednesday Evening a Little Shorter in Summer

From mid-November to mid-February, our Wednesday evening Bible study runs for seventy minutes instead of ninety.

4. Plan a January Bible Reading Plan That Travels

Twelve verses a day, not a chapter. Portable across the WhatsApp group, the website, and the YouVersion app.

5. Do Not Stop Just Because the Rhythm Has Stopped

A daily quiet time of five minutes is still a daily quiet time. A Bible study attended twice in January is still a Bible study. A prayer said in the back of a taxi is still a prayer.

A Summer Prayer for Johannesburg

God of the Highveld — we thank you for the rain. Forgive us for the rhythms we have built that depend on the weather being kind to us. This summer, give us the discipline to keep showing up. We pray for the people of Johannesburg in this season. May we be a community that does not depend on the weather.

Johannesburg Bible Study Church meets online every Wednesday at 7:30pm. The December-January reading plan goes out in the WhatsApp group in late November. Call +27 77 487 1295 or +27 67 442 4461 to join.