Imagine waking up early one morning after a night of pure rain, to see the fog lifting off the horizon, the sun beginning to shine through that fog and all of a sudden, there in the clouds comes a beautiful, iridescent prism or spectrum of colors gleaming all across the sky - a rainbow!!!
Red, orange, yellow, green, aqua blue, dark blue and purple.....Ahhh....beautiful colors that span from one end of the color spectrum to the other!!! You take a deep breath and realize that God just surprised you with one of His special gifts of the day... a gift of promise and hope.
Rainbows are special because they represent a promise from God.
Do you remember the story in the Bible of Noah? Well if you don't or have never heard it before, here is a brief rendition from Genesis 6:5-9:
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually. And, the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. For the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God."
Noah was the one man on earth that God chose to save when His people had turned from His ways and rebelled against God. They became so wicked and evil that God saw fit to destroy them all except Noah and his family.
Noah did as God instructed him to do and built that ark that survived 40 days and 40 nights of hard-driving rain. The flood waters prevailed on the earth for one hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 6:24.)
Finally, the flood waters receded and behold God established a covenant with Noah.
Genesis 9:11-16 tells the story:
"Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And, God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be 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 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."
Think about it: A Rainbow - this beautiful spectrum of colors that God gives us periodically (if we are watching!), God gave to Noah after the flood that wiped out all the people off the face of the earth. This gift was the very "bow" in the sky or clouds that shows His promise that never again, would He send a flood that would wipe out His people from the earth! Never!!!
That is quite a promise. And, I suppose that is the one reason why I love rainbows so much!!! Rainbows remind me of God's love - of His promise to us even though we live thousands of years past the time of Noah. God keeps His promises - every one of them! I have experienced it first hand in my life over and over and over again.
One of the best times I have been blessed to see a rainbow was while we recently went on a Mission Trip with our church to Mexico. We drove from Kansas City to Del Rio, TX and then crossed the border the next day. As we woke up early on Monday in Del Rio, TX ready to drive across the border into Mexico, our church group was packing up the van ready to go and what did God surprise us with??? A double rainbow! Not just one rainbow, but two............what a beautiful confirmation that we were standing on Holy Ground and heading to do the work of our Savior!!! What a confirmation of His Love!!! We were headed in the right direction: Mexico! We were headed to help a family by building a house for them - a sign of hope. A sign of love. A tangible sign to a family who desperately needed more space for their family and did not have the means to make that happen on their own.
Wow!!! What a privilege we were offered....what a gift was given that morning....a "bow" in the clouds....a promise from God. His love reigns: even 2000 years later!!!
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