…God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Genesis 9:12-16 NLT
As we were on our way home from running some errands in Columbus, we ran through some light rain. Not a whole lot but enough to get things wet. Shortly after getting off of the interstate, Karen was the first to spot a rainbow! (They are so cool!) It was off to the right of the van so I couldn’t really get a good look at it, but when I made a sharp right-hand turn, I could see it in all of its glory! Initially, we could see the whole rainbow end to end in front of us and a lighter leg to its left as well! As we traveled home the right side faded from view, but the left side deepened it is vibrancy! It was magnificent!
In my admiration, I thought of writing about it but remembered writing about a rainbow I and my kids saw on my bus route a little over a year ago (see Promises, Promises). But this time my mind was going in a different direction. (There is no limit to what God can enlighten us to regarding his Word and creation!)
A rainbow is formed when light goes through water droplets in the sky. The droplets act as prisms that break the “white” light from the sun into seven distinct colors. From inside to outside, the colors of a rainbow are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
What amazes me is how long the droplets can consistently fall through the sky allowing the light to pass through them. Today’s rainbow lasted at least 10 minutes, whereas last year’s rainbow lasted for almost 40 minutes! It’s astounding!
But one very important thing…it is not happenstance! It’s not just science! It is a wonderful part of God’s creation!
God has made it in such a way that each part – the sun and the droplets of water – has to be in its particular place at just the right time and angle to bring it into being! Isn’t God amazing?!
But it’s not just the physical parts that are awe-inspiring. His promises are awesome, too! The promises of God in His word are numerous – the existence of the rainbow being just one! There are times when we are blessed by those promises because He loves us so. But I believe that sometimes there are promises that only come to fruition when we are in the right place, at the right time. God yearns to bless us, but we can be out of line with His will, determined to do our own thing, and miss out on the promises He wants to bless us with. Sometimes we just allow the world to distract us with all of its glitz and glitter, and forfeit the glory of God in the process.
I am so grateful that in His grace and mercy He continues to extend His blessing to us, but oh what we might see and experience if we would but yield ourselves to His loving will. Lord Jesus, may we see and yearn for Your abundant blessings! Amen!
Aug 8th, 2022, Tues, 9:41 pm
