Of Rainbows and Hope

We turned out of our subdivision onto Rock Service Station Road on our way to evening service and hadn’t even driven more than a quarter of a mile when my wife suddenly gasped. It was the type of gasp that set me on alert thinking she saw something startling. Then she says, “That’s the most beautiful rainbow I’ve ever seen.” I wasn’t in a position to see what she was looking at without taking my eyes off the road. I thought, “A rainbow has another end doesn’t it?” Then I saw it! Looking out my front windshield at about the 2 o’clock position and I almost gasped. It is the largest, most beautiful, and breathtaking rainbow I had ever seen in my entire life.

The colors are so bright and beautiful. Shades of red, blue, yellow, and violet sparkled against the darkened rain heavy skies. It is so broad I can’t begin to estimate its width. Its brightness is almost blinding. I had to avert my gaze and saw an after image everywhere I looked. You’ll know what I mean if you ever kept your eyes open while someone took your picture with a flash. You look around and see the flash. You close your eyes and see the flash. This time I look around and I see the rainbow. It is gorgeous.

I think of God’s covenant with Noah on behalf of all humanity in Genesis 9:12-16:

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow 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; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

I thanked God for allowing us to see His beautiful creation, a colorful painting on a canvas of clouds placed there by His gentle Word. For me, the rainbow is a sign of His goodness and grace toward us, a symbol of hope. In this time of transition, not knowing where I’ll find a job or when I’ll get my next paycheck, the rainbow reminds me of this verse from Psalm 71:5,

“For thou art my hope, O Lord God: Thou art my trust from my youth.”

As beautiful as the rainbow is, it pales in comparison to His Glory.