Recently, someone got me to thinking about rainbows. After experiencing heartache, she said the rainbow took on a new meaning for her. “They’re a promise from God,” she said. “Not that there won’t be storms, but that He’ll see us through them.”
And now I can’t help but look at rainbows differently. To think about the reason we have them.
God declared in Genesis 9 that rainbows would be a reminder of the covenant between Him and His creation, the promise that He would never again bring a flood to destroy the whole Earth (Genesis 9:12-17).
But I think that promise goes a lot deeper than we realize.
I think the rainbow is also a reminder that in the midst of life’s storms, He is there. He will never flood us with too much.
Now, I’ve often heard people say that God won’t give us more than we can handle, but I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. I think He gives us more than we can handle on our own. He never meant for us to be alone. Even in the Garden of Eden, when everything was perfect, He came to walk with Adam and Eve. So why wouldn’t He want to walk with us?
And just as my sister said, He promised to always be there (Hebrews 13:5). We can count on Him through every storm.
And boy, do we need him. Life’s storms are like storms in nature: we try to predict them, to prepare for their ire, but we’re usually caught unawares. In these moments when life hits us unexpectedly, it’s easy to become discouraged. To become overwhelmed.
But in these times, we have two choices: we can focus all our attention on the rain, or we can look for the rainbow.
And to find the rainbow, we have to look up.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
– Psalms 121:1-2 KJV.
So while it’s easy to focus on the storm, let’s instead focus on our God. Let’s focus on the promises He’s made us.
Let’s find the rainbow.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Jennifer Purcell.
Featured Image by Harald Arlander on Unsplash
