Blue Skies

How often we have been in a series of rainy days here in Georgia these last few months.  Praise the Lord it is a far different scenario than just a few years ago when drought was the topic of all conversations.  However day after day of gray clouds overhead can be pretty depressing for a lot of folks.  Then suddenly there is a glimpse of blue sky behind the clouds and although it is small, it is a sign of hope that the clouds will soon dissipate and the blue will be pervasive overhead.  Today the Lord reminded me that He is exactly like that blue sky.  The storms of life may be dominating our world, but He assures us that He is ever present behind the clouds.  Even though we cannot see Him, He is there. Even though there may be hurricane winds blowing, He is there.  A black tornado may be bearing down on us, but He is there.  Our God who loves us beyond imagination is there.

Many of you may know that I write poetry and indeed have published  a book with my photography and poetry.  This morning as I caught a glimpse of blue sky peeking from in between the rain clouds, I thought, there is a poem here.  The truth is though that I am so exhausted from battling the storms of these last few months that I did not have the energy to write the poem.  Yet God put the beauty of that would-be poem in my spirit and gave me this indescribable sense of all that it would say.  Maybe someday soon I will write that poem, but for now, I embrace His peace with the knowledge that He is there. 

Yesterday evening after I had arrived home from an exhausting weekend, the skies opened up and it poured.  I was so grateful that my husband and I were off the road and home.  When the rain had stopped I was acutely aware that there was a change in the color outside.  I was drawn outside in spite of the dampness and was thrilled to see a rainbow in the sky.  Rainbows are significant to me because God uses them at crucial times in my life to communicate a message to me.  For weeks when we have had this ongoing rain, there have been optimal times for rainbows yet they never appeared.  I would search and search the sky in vain.  No rainbows.  Yet yesterday evening when one would have thought the circumstances not conducive to rainbows, there it was.  God was romancing me, His Beloved, once again.

There are only two mentions of rainbows in the entire Bible.  The first is in Genesis - this is the one everybody remembers.  Genesis 9:13-17 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. 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." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."  I am one of those living creatures on earth and my Lord has a covenant promise with me - one that He frequently affirms to me when I need it most.

The only other mention of rainbows in the Word comes in Revelation.  How significant is that - the first and last books of the Bible?  Revelation 4:2-3 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. The completion of His promises to us will show us a rainbow hovering around the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 

When I have been in the midst of total destruction by the storms of life, there were the rainbows.  I remember one time in particular.  I had just witnessed the real estate agent hammering the for sale sign into the ground of the home that I had shared with my ex-husband.  I had no clue at the time where I was going, but just knew that the Lord had told me I was moving - out of state.  Within one hour there was a rainbow in my backyard.  His indescribable peace just flooded my spirit as well as my soul and body as I released all questions and doubts to Him.  There have been many other rainbows, all significant for some reason.  This is one way that He woos me and assures me.  Your sign from Him however may be totally different.  I assure you that there is a method He uses to communicate with you if you will just meditate on it for a while and seek His revelation to you.

Whatever signs God uses in your life, He does want us to remember that He is always there.  He does not walk away from us, but we walk away from Him sometimes.  The storms of life may be very distracting, but if we search diligently enough, we will see glimpses of spiritual blue sky.  He never leaves us alone.  He never forsakes us.  Trust that the blue sky is always there, somewhere behind those stormy clouds of life.