Rainbows

As I was driving this morning the sun was shining behind me and grey clouds were in front of me. Suddenly to my right appeared a rainbow. I thought to myself, “Thank you Lord for your promises.” With everything that our family is going through these days—immediate and extended—I needed the reminder that God is faithful to keep His promises.

You may remember when God first set His bow in the sky. Noah had just come out of the ark on Mount Ararat after being aboard with his family and his floating zoo for the last year. Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and God made a covenant with Noah and all living creatures that He would never again destroy the earth by flood.

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."
Genesis 9:16 (NIV)

I’m glad God hasn’t asked me to be in Noah’s shoes. I wouldn’t want to have to clean up after the elephants, let alone all the other animals. So while our house may seem like a zoo from time to time, we are not dealing with anything like Noah’s floating zoo.

As we have welcomed Sam, Courtney and Jacob into our home—doubling the number of kids in the house since Chrysta and Gracie are away at college—the house is feeling a little full and loud, but our family is making adjustments. Everyone is pitching in with dinner for eight (“Eight is Enough”*), dishes, laundry, picking up, doing homework, etcetera, etcetera; things are off to a good start.

Still I’m glad for the reminder that God keeps His promises. Over the last year we have seen the devastation of flood waters with the tsunami and hurricane Katrina, but God has kept His promise to not destroy all the earth in a flood. And we have heard stories of survivors of these and other natural disasters who have acknowledged God’s help in their time of need.

God has not promised us smooth sailing; the Lord never said we wouldn’t go through hardship or difficulties. But He has promised to never abandon us to try to make it on our own. God has promised to meet all our needs, to be our refuge and strength. The next year may have its share of challenges, but God will be with us each step of the way.

*Ten will be TERRIFIC! I can’t wait for the girls to come home.