Genesis 9:8-17
Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”
The picture today is
one my daughter took at the beach in Jacksonville, Florida this past Mother’s
Day. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a
rainbow from a perspective where you’re able to see the whole bow,
ground-to-sky-to-ground, the full rainbow.
Mostly I see parts of rainbows, sometimes just a hint, and sometimes a
half.
This is so like the
promises and miracles of God. There are
times you see just a hint that God crossed your path and left a blessing. At other times you’re blown-away by the sheer
magnitude of the gift and the power that is behind all of what He does in your
life, because you get the full picture, and it leaves no doubt as to just how
awesome and gracious is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…and little me.
I’m a lot older than I
used to be, and at this stage of life you look back…a lot! The gift of a family that still loves me,
challenged by distance – not just the social distancing of late, but hundreds of miles and several states –
well, it’s just a miracle gift and blessing, of which I can’t claim any
credit. I look at my bride and there’s a
rainbow that stretches to this day from that first glance in a high school
corridor back in 1964. And in that
glance there was a rainbow of promise; I couldn’t recognize it then, but I can
see God’s hand though the years.
We married a year and a
half after graduating high school; I was just a week away from leaving for
serving in Vietnam. We would spend the
next year only “seeing” each other in letters.
Three children, nine grands, and several great-grandchildren later,
Elizabeth is still my closest, longest, and most needed relationship on this
planet. The best of all is she is aware,
and approves the fact that she is still #2 in my life and allegiance, second
only to Jesus.
We live with problems,
challenges of difficult circumstances, and bodies that don’t hold together
nearly as good as they used to, nor as well as our minds (stuck at age 25
thinking) demand. But that is not proof
of the absence of God’s love or care; to be certain, it is just the opposite. Our challenges in the autumn of life are like
God’s rainbows, colorful, and covering the sky from time to time. But they are not as painful as I once
imagined they would be at this age. They
are more like rainbow reminders of the strength of God’s good promises, both here, on
this planet, with mercies and strength as our day demands, and a foreshadow of
splendor for the day after my last today…the eternity of joy with all the
family I’ve had here on earth, and wonderful surprises, gifts, and eternal joy in
my new home in glory, close to the One whose love I have only just begun to
appreciate!
For You Today
I have a new passage of
Scripture that I depend upon to center my heart and life as each morning
dawns…it comes from (of all places), the Lamentations of Jeremiah:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamentations 3:22-24
Title Image: Carrie
Brownworth Wynne (with permission)
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