RAINBOWS AND THE RAIN

This past week I "came out of retirement" and assisted dear friends in saying goodbye to their 23 day old baby son. It's among the hardest things a minister will do, and it is, by far, the most difficult thing parents can experience.  "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the lord," (Job 1:21) are true words, but they weigh heavy on the heart at such times.

We went to visit them one evening on a day with a slow rain. As we drove, the setting sun broke out, full and bright in the west, even as rain still sprinkled on us. And I'm sure you know what followed: a lovely complete rainbow appeared in the eastern sky. It was beautiful and so colorful.

After the rain comes the rainbow, God's promise of salvation. All daytime showers produce rainbows, yet we don't always see them, either because we aren't looking from the right direction, or we aren't looking at all. But after the rain, there are always rainbows. If there was no rain, there would be no rainbow.

Every good thing in life is a rainbow, a blessing from God, but we don't always recognize it as such. This is true either because we are seeing it from the wrong perspective, or else we are too busy to look for it. Sometimes we can only see the "bad" in every blessing (it's not just air, it's "polluted air," or it's not just the warming sun, it's the "cancer-causing sun.") But rainbows are still rainbows, no matter how we see them.

God gives rainbows after every rain, especially when we suffer the storms of illness, frailty, conflict or anything that causes grief. Thankfully, after the hard things pour on us, then follows the rainbows of health or strength or peace. Even if we can't see them right away, they are still there.

Trusting in Jesus Christ, we are given strength to endure whatever suffering we have. He endured suffering and death for us on the cross, and promises strength for every burden. His love helps us to enjoy rainbows here and unending heavenly joys there. Our Lord Jesus makes life worth living, and death worth dying.

Praise God for our everlasting rainbow of heaven.