Rainbows or Storms—Your Choice… Hello Hump Day Readers. I am thinking of storms as I write this today because we are getting them up here in Northern New Mexico and it is downright chilly! We need the rain so most of our campers are not worried about it, perhaps a few tent campers may pack-up and leave or wait it out sleeping in their vehicle!

Right now our prayers are needed for Morocco’s 2500+ earthquake deaths; Libya’s 5,000+ deaths from a broken dam; and wildfires on every continent. This Hump Day the Eastern seaboard in our country is also looking to the broiling Atlantic waters/skies and preparing for Hurricane Lee. I’m glad I do not live on coastal lands during these deadly storms!

Writer and teacher, Emmy Ryan, lives in the south and she has hunkered down for many hurricanes, tropical storms and violent sea surges. In fact, she knows them all by name, especially Alicia, who tore her home apart when she was just 6 years old. Growing up in a family of faith, Emmy has learned to pay attention to the call of destruction and evacuation that meteorologists send out. She has survived many of them and some were extremely inconvenient, like Hurricane Miscarriage, Tropical Unemployment, and so forth. By naming them in such ways she is reminded of the strength God has given her through these tough storms and will continue to be with her in the storms coming ahead!

In Genesis 9:13-15 [GW], God declared:

“I will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth.
Whenever I form clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in the clouds.
Then I will remember my promise to you and every living animal.
Never again will water become a flood to destroy all life.”

I read these promise-words in 7 different Bible translations. The rich adjectives wandered through my imagination in so many scenarios, yet they accumulated in one very powerful message: God’s promise given to us in every rainbow. Oh, what a gift we have in this promise! So why is it so easy to forget that when the storms of life batter us up? I have a better idea about those storms: let’s not focus on them. Instead, let’s focus on counting the rainbows in our lives!

God tells us that he will NEVER again send a flood to wash away a corrupt segment of humanity—even though our corruption continues to this day. Another incredible gift that comes out of this promise is: the storms of life do not have the power to destroy us. Will they cause damage—indeed they will—just look at Emmy’s storm-titles above. You probably have a lot of your own as well. Yet, even in the destruction, the door is open for Jesus to do what he does best: protect, provide, comfort, heal and save.

Perhaps you are going through a storm right now. Take a deep breath and reflect on the times where God has brought you through a storm. Think of the details so you can realize that each of these times were incredible miracles God did for you because God loves you so very much.

Read the Genesis passage again and you will see that God reiterated His promise three times to never again destroy the earth by such a flood. After living through such a traumatic experience, it seems God wanted to reassure Noah, so God graciously 3-repeated the promise. You know, the number 3 is a holy number—a symbol of the power of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who were all together in creation and are always on call 24/7 as they continue to work in our lives.

So, next time the storms come—and they will—give that nod of “here I go again” then take a deep breath and hang on tight to your loving God, because he will be taking you through them in HIS almighty strength. Then, when the storm ceases, look up to your rainbow, smile at the beautiful colors and know that good endings always come with our good and gracious God! AMEN.