The Rainbow

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: PRAISE BE TO THE LORD, TO GOD OUR SAVIOR, WHO DAILY BEARS OUR BURDENS. PSALM 68:19

Recently, I was on my way home from the grocery store when the sky began to darken. My children, who usually chat incessantly, sat quietly watching the sky. The dark menacing clouds marched across the horizon blotting out the sun and bright blue sky that had been present only minutes before. Suddenly, my oldest daughter interrupted the tense quietness with a shout of joy.

“Look, mom! A rainbow!

I glanced up at the sky in the direction that she was pointing but saw no rainbow. I quickly readjusted my eyes to the road. The wind had picked up and large drops of rain were beginning to pelt the windshield.

My youngest daughter suddenly began pointing as well.
“I see it! That’s God’s promise to never flood the earth again. Look, mom, look!”

After turning into my driveway and coming to a stop, I peered up into the sky. I certainly did not see a rainbow. After a moment of concentrated searching, I saw the tiniest part in the clouds. The rainbow was a tiny fragment of color mostly hidden behind the clouds. It was not what I had expected, but it was a rainbow.

We too often concentrate on the storms of our lives instead of concentrating on the promises that get us through those storms. We also tend to ignore or not recognize God’s promises when we see them because we have our own expectations of what those promises should look like. Sometimes God’s promises are hard to find, but we need to remember that they are there and we are the ones who need to adjust our focus in order to find them.

Prayer: Father, help me to remember to rest my eyes upon you and your promises in times of trouble. Amen.