Whenever I see a rainbow I can’t
help but think about Noah and the flood.
God used the rainbow as a sign of the promise that He would never again
destroy the world with a flood.
Rainbows, as you know, are
spectacular.
Three conditions must be met in
order for you to see a rainbow. First, it must be raining. Second, the sun must
be shining. Third, the observer must be between the sun and the rain. So if the sun is on one side of you and it’s
raining on the other side, you can see the rainbow.
Sunlight is made up of different
colors...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet and when that
sunlight passes through raindrops, the raindrops act like tiny prisms, and the
light spreads out into a band of colors that are reflected back to us as a
rainbow.
Let’s think of this in light of
our relationship with God.
First – there must be rain.
In order to see the beauty of the
rainbow – there must be rain. Isn’t that
the way with most good things? We can’t
seem to appreciate the beautiful, unless we've been through a storm. If our lives are running smoothly, we don’t
appreciate the good.
Isn’t that the way with you? It is with me. We just walk along the path of life, day to
day and don’t really stop to think of our blessings – until it rains.
The second condition is that the
sun must be shining.
In order to see much of anything,
we have to have the sun – or light. But
this condition is talking specifically about the sun, not just any light. Let’s look at this from the standpoint of the
SON (S O N,) the Son of God. Of course
He’s always there, He’s always shining, but maybe we really need the rain or
the darkness to truly be aware of His light.
The Son of God is the light that shines on the raindrops – the trials in
our lives - and creates the beauty of the rainbow. The colors are the colors of the Son,
enhanced by the rain that falls into our lives.
Thirdly, We must be between the
sun and the rain.
When we stand in the
rain without being aware of the sun, we don’t see the rainbow. When we walk in the sun without looking up at
the sky and the rain, we don’t see the rainbow.
We have to know God’s promises in order to see them, in order to see the
rainbow.
One of God’s promises. that’s
special to me comes from Jesus. John 14:21 tells us,
“. . . The one who loves me will be loved by
my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” How comforting that is. We will be loved by Jesus and the
Father. And Jesus will show himself to
us.
What a great promise! What a great rainbow.
Other than during the period of
the flood, there are only a few times that the Bible speaks of a rainbow.
We read in Ezekiel 1:28 - Ezekiel
had a vision of God - and this is what he said, “Like the appearance of a
rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was
the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell
facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
The radiance around God was like
a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day.
It so awed Ezekiel that he fell on his face in worship. What a rainbow that must have been.
Then in Revelation 4:2-3 John is
talking about his vision of heaven and he said, “. . . At once I was in the
Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance
of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the
throne.”
After the flood, every time the
rainbow is mentioned, it is mentioned in the context of God and his sovereign
power. The rainbow around God's throne is a symbol of His faithfulness that
even in judgment; God will always remember His covenant and protect His own.
The rainbow is a sign of God's faithfulness to His people.
I wrote this little poem to help
us remember -
When you’re walking through a storm and the rain is coming down
When your feet are weary trudging through the puddles on the ground
When you don’t know where to turn and the joy’s no longer found
Look up and see the rainbow.
Look up! You’ll be spellbound!
God paints the sky with colors,
so we’ll know this promise true.
He’ll walk beside us through the storms as only He can do.
He puts the rainbow in the sky
His promise shining there on high -
the promises that multiply, and show His care for you.
God is such an artist, isn’t He? He gives us the magnificent rainbow stretching across the heaven, filled
with all the colors of the sun to help us remember that we can trust Him to
keep His promises.
And His promises? To love
you! To be with you and show Himself to
you! To care for you, and provide for
your needs! And eternal life for those
who believe in Him!
Rainbows – aren’t they an amazing picture from and amazing God?
