Each day, I pray that this blog will not become about my performance or about anything other than glorifying God and providing encouragement and inspiration to you all. I pray He will lead me to a place in the bible where He wants me to focus. I pray, more than anything else, that I will not misrepresent Him.
Today, God led me to Genesis 9. Back to the beginning of the bible. If you have never taken the time to read through Genesis, it really is a cool book of scripture in that so many of our "dysfunctional" tendencies are illustrated right there. It is like a soap opera. We think the world has become such a crazy, ugly place. The truth is that it has always been a crazy, ugly place--well since Eve ate that apple anyway.
So to set the stage a bit, this was just after the flood. God had become quite angry with us humans.
Genesis 6: 5-8
“5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
Most of you know what happened with Noah and the ark. It was not a good scene. God wiped out all of creation except what Noah had on the ark. Total devastation. Can you imagine? Can you imagine being on that ark? It is so hard to really stop and think about what that must have been like.
Anyway, afterward, in Chapter 9:8-16
“8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
God created the rainbow. Something beautiful to restore all that was lost.
I spent some time today thinking about how many times in my life I have seen a rainbow? A dozen….a few dozen…? Anytime I am lucky enough to see one, I just find myself lost in its beauty. I can barely take my eyes off of it. It always appears so magical. And I seem to hear the song in my mind….. “Skies are blue, and the dreams that I dare to dream really do come true.”
Do you ever wonder why we don’t see them very often? Perhaps God keeps them rather infrequent so we don’t ever take them for granted. So we notice. So we stop and admire the beauty instead of rushing right past it.
Scientists are rolling their eyes at me right now. After all, rainbows can be explained scientifically as the many colors that result from refractive dispersions of sunlight in drops of rain or mist. School children everywhere do experiments where they can produce rainbows with light.
But when I looked up the definition online, another definition also popped up that got my attention. Rainbow was defined as “an illusory hope.”
I think back to the storms in my life. Through every storm, I can see the rainbow. Little storms like broken bones in high school were storms. I was an athlete, finding much of my identity in my athletic accomplishments. Breaking a bone was terrible. But when I found my love of music and discovered my singing voice- all because of that broken leg, I found a new love and identity. What a beautiful rainbow.
Bigger storms like my divorce were devastating. Words cannot even describe my broken heart. But my second husband arrived in the form of a rainbow. After eleven years, I am still realizing just how much I love him. And how before him, I didn’t even really know what love was.
Ah, but what about this nasty diabetes that has found my daughter….the biggest storm to date. Well, rainbows are popping up everywhere because of that storm. We have met new friends. We have been able to give people help and encouragement. We have grown SO much closer to God. Beautiful rainbows.
Dolly Parton once said, “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
Wherever you find yourself tonight, whether in the middle of a giant storm or enjoying a rainbow, I pray you will seek God in it. Enjoy this little song....
Amen! I especially like choosing to DANCE in the rain! ;)
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