Rainbows

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?