The Rainbow
It was summer. That season I always anticipate with great joy and
excitement. That season where things warm up and dry up. That season where I
don't have to worry about weather concerns when planning my beloved outdoor
activities. The season where I have the time to pursue the activities I love
so much.
Only one problem: We had been experiences days upon end of continuous rain!
Where was my warm, dry weather? Where was my freedom to spend time outdoors?
Needless to say, I was pretty depressed. All my dreams for this season were
literally being washed away.
But then, as I was driving down the road one rainy afternoon, grumbling to
myself about the less-than-ideal weather, I saw it: That ancient sign of
God's promise-A rainbow. As it arched itself across the sky with its
brilliance of colour, I couldn't help but revel in its beauty. And I
couldn't help but remember the promise of the rainbow:
"'I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the
covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over
the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember
My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all
flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The
rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the
everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that
is on the earth.' And God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant
which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'"
(Gen 9:13-17 NKJV)
The rainbow is a sign of promise. It is to remind us that the waters will
NOT always wash down from the sky, the floods will NOT always rise up from
the depths. The rainbow is a promise that God WILL provide!
And as I looked at that arc of color, nearly encircling the evening sky, I
realized that it was more than this to me at that moment in time. It was
also a reminder that God knows what I need to be happy. Though I may think I
need beautiful weather, God knows that no matter what the skies are doing
outside, all I really need is Him!
It was one of those little "aha" moments, a tiny little rebuke designed to
set me back on the right path, for in that moment I realized that instead of
relying on God for my happiness, I was relying on my outdoor activities! I
had set them up as a little "god" in my life!
I repented immediately and was amazed at how the sense of melancholy I had
been harbouring just disappeared! I had all I needed to be happy! I had my
Lord and Saviour, my God!
But the story didn't end there. You see, that rainbow served yet another
purpose that rainy evening. Rainbows form because the sun's light is shining
through the cloud, reflecting off of the millions of tiny water droplets in
the air! A rainbow is a sign that the sun will again return!
And it did. The very next day. And that was the end of our rain.
So often in life we become surrounded by circumstances that are less than
ideal. Things happen that ruin our plans, ruin our visions of happiness,
ruin our definitions of peace. These circumstances become so big that we
forget one important Truth: God is bigger, and no matter what we are facing
at any moment in time, The Son WILL shine through!
Don't believe it?
Let's remember for a moment the circumstances around the first rainbow: God
had just brought a global flood that had destroyed the entire planet. He had
saved just 8 people, Noah and his family. They had been forced to weather
the storm bouncing up and down on a huge ship for 40 days, and then had been
forced to stay aboard that same ship for over a year while the Earth dried
out. When they were finally able to exit the boat, the world, as they had
known it, was gone. The weather patterns as they had known them were gone.
They were, in a sense, cast upon an isolated "island" with nothing but what
they had brought with them on the ark.
Were they scared?
They had every right to be!
But God hung His rainbow in the sky as a promise: The God who brought you
through this storm will NEVER abandon you! The Son WILL shine through the
problems, and He WILL be glorified in whatever bad things are happening!
Friends, our circumstances may be gigantic. But they are not worse than
those that Noah faced on that day when God gave the ultimate promise through
His rainbow! Remember, the Son WILL shine through your problems! God will
bring you through! Your job is simply to rest in Him and let Him do His
work.
Oh, and the next time you see a rainbow? Let it be a reminder to you that
God is bigger than whatever it is you are facing!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two
teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet
newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian
devotionals and inspirational poems,
www.scripturalnuggets.org,
with Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org.