GotQuestions.org is an online resource that I frequent myself, and I encourage others to do likewise. It offers answers to multitudes of biblical questions as well as questions that just relate to life. In their article about rainbows, some simple, basic truths are rehearsed. “The rainbow is God’s creation. We naturally delight in it. There is something awe-inspiring in the appearance of a rainbow after a storm. It is good and right that we rejoice in the rainbow as a God-ordained symbol of God’s faithfulness and mercy.” We do “naturally” delight in rainbows, and we usually have a general idea of its origin and stated purpose after the worldwide flood Noah and his family survived. And as biblical, God-centered believers, delighting in a rainbow today after a natural rain storm, the rainbow seems to shout to us of the faithfulness of our God. We may be questioning God’s presence, but the sight of a rainbow holds the potential of the believer sensing, feeling, something physical, a touch, an embrace, that diminishes doubt, and upholds truth. My God is real. My God weaves all of life and history together for His purposes, and He sustains me, enables me, transforms and completes me, all while He loves and cares for me with the tender affections of a Father that knows no comparison.
The week before driving to my son’s home for dinner had been heavy with the storms of difficulty and challenges for a growing list of family and friends. Sickness, surgeries, accidents, deaths, relational discord – all reminding me that only God has the needed answers, but my faith was still wanting something tangible to hold on to. And then the skies unleashed a very natural storm, but its intensity blinded us to roads and cars and whatever happened to be muddled and murky alongside the roads. Our ears couldn’t missed the pounding sounds of thunder and lightning. The wipers on our windshield attempted to give us some clearance to see ahead of ourselves, and it was then, in the midst of the crashing, overwhelming rains ......... I saw the rainbow!! Not a little one. Not a distant one. But an up-close and present one!! The awesomeness of its towering width that seemed to encircle us, was surpassed when I realized the rainbow was traveling with us. I couldn’t see much alongside the road, but I could see the bend of the rainbow touching the earth to the left of our vehicle. We were driving slowly though, so as I glanced in the direction we were driving, I would look again to the left. Our vehicle had moved forward, but so too had the rainbow, and yet again, the bending arch of the rainbow was touching the earth. The scene repeated itself as we moved forward in the storm, but the rainbow was always there. And this rainbow was shouting!! Bev, your friends and your family – yes, each one is in their own storm, but I am still there too. I am with them. I am at work. I will provide for them. I will never leave them or forsake them. I am the God of their yesterdays, and their today, and their tomorrows. I am real, and I care.
I actually wanted to get out of my car, walk in the rain, and soak up the reality of what God was saying. Science can explain the phenomenon I experienced, but I know still, God started it all, and God sustains it all. And the rainbow has always had a purpose. It shouts, “God!!” and it reminds me He is faithful. Always.
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: Genesis 9:12-17; Psalm 34:1-22)
