Let me tell you what I mean.
I’ve read the Noah story a dozen times. After Noah and his family left the ark, God made a covenant (promise) with him, with all people for all generations, and with all living creatures, that never again would He destroy all life with a flood. Then God set the rainbow in the sky as a sign of that promise.
Take a look at what God said in Genesis 9:16:
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.”
Read that last sentence again.
Did you see what I never saw before? God said: Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember…”
Wow. The rainbow isn’t just a sign to remind us of God’s promise. The rainbow is also a sign to remind God of His promise.
Does God really need a reminder? Of course not.But it is nice to know He gives Himself a reminder about things that are important to his children.
It’d be like posting a note to ourselves on the fridge: don’t forget to kiss the kids goodnight. Are you likely to forget? No. But it’s nice to remind yourself. It forces you to think about your kids and how much they mean to you. And it’s nice for them to know it’s important enough for you to stick the reminder in the place of supreme importance: the front of the fridge.
The last rainbow I saw was in August while visiting my daughter at college in Idaho. I had only recently re-read Genesis. The revelation of the rainbow as a reminder was still fresh in my mind.
The rainbow God placed in the sky as we were leaving our daughter behind and returning to California wasn’t a wimpy half rainbow or a faded full one. This one was brilliant; a complete, double rainbow, stretching across the vast Idaho hills, encompassing the horizon and blazing forth the reality of God’s promise of love and care.
Thanks, God for the reminder and for remembering your children, especially when we have to leave our children to your care and return to our earthly homes three states away.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you are worthy of our love and worship. Thank you for being our protector and provider. Thank you for loving us so much that you would give us this lifetime and then provide a way for us to spend eternity with you. Amen.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? What was the most beautiful rainbow you’ve ever seen?
2 comments:
Carol, I never thought about this angle either, that's really cool how you connected God's reminder to himself as another way to show us how much He loves us!! Not sure if you'll remember from my musings but I had an Oh My Glorious God moment recently running through the gracedrops and in the puddles of blessings... all to the amazing sight of a beautiful rainbow!
@ Chris - thanks for the comment. Yes, I do remember your puddles of blessings post. I had to bite my tongue back then and not talk about this post when commenting on yours because it wasn't scheduled for a while. :-)
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