Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Promise

The last few days we have had some crazy spring weather -- even for the Pacific Northwest. Windstorms are knocking down power lines and rain is flooding the streets. Yesterday, as we watched the rain and hail pour out of the sky, I couldn't help but feel disgruntled. Although I usually love the rain, the sound of the rain, the lovely green the rain brings to the earth, all I could feel was contempt. Rain -- and the fifty-degree temperature it brought with it -- was keeping us inside for the second day in a row. I am ready for winter and spring to be done! I want summer!
During this "rainy season" (which tends to last from October to June) I often think of Noah and his ark. How did Noah feel when all he heard for forty days was rain pounding on the roof of the ark? Did he have moments of craziness or was he able to surrender all over to God, the one who was keeping him safe even this moment of absolute destruction? Did he mourn for the souls being lost in the flood, or was he able to remove himself and thank God for saving his wife, sons, and their families?

Like a spoiled child, I sit inside pouting at the rain ruining my day. Then, last night, as I was getting the kids ready for their nightly baths, my son calls me into the living room:

"MOM! Look! It's a rainbow!"



I peek out the window to the fullest, brightest rainbow I have ever seen. And not just a little curve of one. No, we got to see the full bow and all six (six? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and, don't forget, purple, too! -- yes, six!) colors as bright as God intended them to be.
"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth...Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever 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."
Genesis 9:13,15(b)-16 (NIV)


My spirit automatically calmed and I realized that though the rain -- literal and proverbial -- may pour down, God will never send a flood again. He has given his promise. He is my constant, my all-consuming strength, and my help in time of need. I read this verse this morning and I got stuck on the word "remember." Does God really forget? He is Alpha and Omega -- beginning and end. He was and is and will be. Does he really need a reminder? No. He doesn't, but we do. God, who knows us inside and out, knew us as we were being "knit together in (our) mother's womb." (Psalm 139:13) The God of forever doesn't need reminding. He wants us to turn from ourselves and back to him. He wants us to get on the boat.

What is the rain in your life?
What is the rainbow, the reminder of God's eternal promise, in your life?

2 comments:

Lisa said...

wow! What a pretty sight you were blessed with! I call that the Great Promise. I'm with you...bring on the summer weather! Thanks for reminding me that the rain in my life is nothing that Jesus can't handle. Glad you're feeling better!

ambersun said...

The rain in my life is my health.

I trust it to God and doctors and try to do what they say.

God's rainbow promise to me means that, whatever happens, he will help me through it.

God Bless

The other Amber