Sorry this post is a little late.... life intervened this morning. Specifically the life of a mother. Someone showed up unexpectedly at the door (with me still in my pj's!), then I had a longer-than-usual morning phone conversation with someone special to me, and then my 2 yr. old who happens to have a butter fetish got into the butter while I was upstairs doing my hair. Cleaning it out of his hair and off his hands, face and clothes was quite the chore. At least this time it wasn't all over the furniture or the floor!
But I digress.
I hope that you are able to enjoy this day and bask in God's love for you.
-Becky
Radiant RainbowThen 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.” (Genesis 9:12-16, NLT)
I have spring fever. Bad. It's only February, I know. But there were a couple of days this week when we had a wonderful preview of spring. The sun was shining, the weather was warm, and sitting outside was oh so nice!
Later today the rain is supposed to return. Not bad, just a few showers here and there. I'm actually looking forward to the next couple of months as the rain continues to become more intermittent and warmer, as the sun makes more and more appearances, as the leaves begin to sprout and the flowers begin to bloom.
But you know what I love the most about spring rain? The fact that I'm likely to see rainbows. I love rainbows. When we lived on Maui, the rainbows were brilliant. Brilliant and double. That's right... it was more common than not to see double rainbows. They were absolutely beautiful. I even saw a night rainbow once. That was an incredible sight.
Rainbows intrigue me, not just because they are beautiful, but also because they are a symbol from God that He will never again destroy the earth with a flood. Growing up I always believed that the symbol of the rainbow was for our benefit... that it was God's reminder to us of His promise. Not so.
When I was in my late 20's, I was involved in a small Bible study group where we spent a year and a half doing our own study of Genesis. I will never forget how much I learned during that time, and how many of my preconceived ideas were challenged. It was the first time I ever noticed the words, "the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember My covenant". The rainbow wasn't put there for us to remember; it was put there for God to remember His promise to all mankind. It was an unconditional covenant. It provided immediate hope and grace to Noah... he never had to worry that there was anything he could do or not do that would cause God to wipe he and his family off the earth with another flood (a definite anxiety-reliever for the next time it rained since the Flood had been their first experience with rain!). And it was a promise of grace to the rest of mankind as well.
It was no coincidence that the rainbow was in the shape of a bow.... God was done battling with the earth and so He hung up His bow in the sky. What an amazing symbol. I also don't believe it was any coincidence that the naked eye sees seven colors in every rainbow.... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Seven. God's perfect number.
God later provided an even better and more meaningful symbol in the Cross. The perfect symbol of sacrifice and love.
God's symbols of love are everywhere. Look for them.
P.S.
If you're interested in a copy of the Bible study method we used, let me know and I can email it to you. It can be used with any Books of the Bible that are in "story" form. You'll learn some amazing things with this tool.
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