Rainbows and Opportunity: Both are Beautiful

The other day I had the wonderful opportunity to take a walk with my four-year-old daughter. The weather outside was not so delightful. Storms had hammered Dallas and the surrounding areas all day. However, as I arrived home, there was a break in the clouds and an opportunity to spend some well-needed quality time with my little girl.

We live in a small rural town 30 miles from downtown Dallas. We have one general store and a small knick-knack shop called “The One Trick Pony.” We live approximately two blocks from the general store. On a good day, and a few dogs chasing behind me, I can make it there and back in 10 minutes. However, today, I wanted to take my time. Today I was going to take my daughter Naomi for a walk.

“Hey, you want to get something to drink at the store” I asked Naomi? Her smile reached from ear to ear. Her nose crinkled and accented her blue eyes.

“Yes sir, daddy. I want to go. We can spend time together.” She eagerly ran to her room to get her pink crocks.

Just as she grabbed my hand my wife from another room said “Are you sure you want to go out in this weather?”

Naomi’s face did not flinch. She assured mommy we would be just fine, grabbed my hand and headed for the door. I nodded in agreement and told her we would be right back.

I grabbed her hand and we began to walk down the road. She was on my inside closest to the ditch. As we walked, she talked and asked all kinds of questions about the cows that were on her left and the baseball practice going on in the filed on the right. You could tell she was excited because she was very polite and eager to please her daddy.

I just listened to her. I love hearing her voice. She makes me smile in ways I have never known. She is very inquisitive. Her appetite for curiosity is ferocious. It seems like it never ends. Sometimes I can keep up, but most times, I am at a loss for words. I pray and plead with God to give me the wisdom to answer half of her concerns. I am thankful this time he answered my prayer.

As we were walking and talking, I saw an opportunity for a teaching lesson. I asked her a series of questions.

 "Who is in control of sending the rain and wind?"

She answered, "God is!" "Yes, that is very good" I said.

Again I asked her, "Why does God send the rain, the wind, and the storms?"

            She answered once more, "To feed all of the plants and animals."

I told her “You are exactly right! God is sovereign over every raindrop that falls to the ground and every branch that falls from the tree. And just as storms come into our life, God is in control of them as well."

She listened and agreed. We were almost to the store when Naomi looked up and asked me another question.

She asked, “Do think God will put a rainbow in the sky today?” I said, “I don’t know. He can if he wants to.”

We arrived at the store and I grabbed a 2-liter bottle of Sprite. I asked Naomi if she wanted a purple coke or an orange coke. I thought for sure she would pick the purple because that is mommy’s favorite color and drink. Instead, maybe showing her independence, she chose orange. I paid the inflated price of living out in the middle of nowhere, and of course, I “tested” the orange drink to be sure it was good enough for Naomi. She is at an age where I can get away with that, so I take advantage of it whenever I can.

We crossed the busiest road in the town by looking left, then right, and then left again. Needless to say we did not see anything. However, as we crossed the road I looked up ahead to see a beautiful rainbow in the backdrop of the baseball field and the community building. I stopped and knelt down and told Naomi to look up and see glory. I told her God decided to put a rainbow in the sky. Her smile returned in amazement. I looked at her and told her God was listening and decided to show us his power. He gave us a promise.

The rainbow is a promise of judgment and grace. The rainbow reminds us that God judge’s sin. When God looked down from heaven in Noah’s day, he saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of man was only evil continually. (Gen 6:5 ESV) He judged mans sin by sending a worldwide flood that killed every human being and creature on earth except Noah and his family. God is serious about sin and will judge our sin without hesitation. Either we will take that judgment on our own, or Christ will bare it for us on the cross.

The rainbow is also a reminder of mercy. For God promised to never flood the earth again (Gen 8:21; 9:11) and sustain the earth while it remains (Gen 8:22). Everyday God extends this mercy to the just and the unjust. Everyday, though many walk as his enemy and seek to defame his character and his worth, he tells the waves you can go this far and no further; the tornado can touch down here but not there; the fire will blaze for this long and no longer. His wrath is never fully implored as it was during the flood. And after the rain has stopped and the waters have risen as high as he will allow them rise, he looks to the sky and sees the rainbow, and remembers the covenant he made with every living creature that the waters will not devour all flesh again (Gen 9:15). This does not mean that judgment is not coming. For God says, it is appointed for man to die once and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

God gave my daughter and I a very special moment. He moved the clouds and the rain and displayed a rainbow of promise. In doing so he reminded me, that his mercies are new every morning and that the heavens declare his glory and proclaim his handiwork.

He also reminded me that if my daughter remains in her current state of rebellion that she will suffer the same fate as those in Noah's day. My daughter is without excuse. God displays the evidence of his existence in all creation. Today she was able to taste and see that God is alive and well. This moves me to live radically for Jesus for my children’s sake.

I am moved to teach my children the commandments of the Lord. According to Deuteronomy 6, we are to saturate our children with God's word. In the morning when we wake up, we are to feed their souls before their faces. During the day, we are to take advantage of every teaching moment.

Every circumstance presents an opportunity to glorify God. Moreover, when the day comes to a close it should be filled with singing and words of adoration of our God as a family; and this is just Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday should be filled with minute-by-minute worship as well. This in turn will create a Niagara Falls like overflow on Sunday and the body of Christ will actually worship God like we are called to do. This is what it means to be a "Christian family." This is what Deuteronomy 6 calls for us to live like. This is what it means to live radically for Jesus. I pray for more rainbows