I took this photo from my roofdeck a few years ago. Pretty spectacular stuff. There is no filter or editing done to it whatsoever. Just God’s beauty and wonder.
It came after a night of rare LA rainfall that sent my Halloween party from the roofdeck under the stars to the inside under energy-saving lightbulbs. Not so spectacular stuff.
And yet it was that very rainfall that brought this beautiful, magnificent rainbow–God’s sign of…
never again
The first rainbow came as a sign of God’s promise–or covenant–that never again would there be another flood like the one He had just sent {Gen. 9:13}.
Between Genesis 8:21 and Genesis 9:15, the phrase “never again” appears five times.
I remember walking back down the aisle at our wedding after being pronounced husband and wife and the words “never again” popping into my head. Never again would I have to traverse that treacherous wilderness of singleness and dating.
It was a moment of pure bliss to say the least.
Can you think of a time when you felt God had delivered you a promise of “never again”?
What’s crazy is that this rainbow pictured above “happened” to come after the night Clay and I had our first actual conversation. For the very first time he actually showed an interest in me and took the time to get to know me after acting quite aloof for the entire five months I had known him.
It was as if God was revealing to me that “never again” will I have to endure another breakup or the uncertainties and frustrations of singleness {at least after another five months when Clay took me on our first date the following March!}
But the thing is, I never even put this all together until I took the time to…
remember
It wasn’t until I was scrolling through my iPhoto stream after we were married that I realized that this very rainbow had come the morning after that Halloween night when we had taken our first photo together {albeit a group photo!} November 1, 2014.
In that moment I realized more than ever just how creative God’s storytelling is.
In remembering back on details of our lives, we can get a better, more detailed account of the intricate and detailed writing He is doing through our very lives. And in remembering back on the details of Scripture, we can do the same.
Did you know the word “remember” outnumbers the word “trust” 5 times to 1 in the Bible? There is power in remembering.
In Exodus 17:14 God tells Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as something to be remembered.” Psalm 105:5 tells us, “Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.” And here in Genesis 9:14-16 God Himself says,
Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant… I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant…
If the God of the universe uses signs to remember, then how much more should we who are made in His image?
trust
The thing about remembering is it actually helps us to trust.
As I reflect on God’s faithfulness in delivering me from the wilderness of singleness, I am better able to trust Him in the midst of this wilderness of chronic pain.
Can you remember a time when God was faithful in your life? Will you allow this remembrance to fill you with confidence in the wilderness you are facing today?
Just yesterday in church as we were worshipping, I felt God nudge me to open to Isaiah. He revealed to me Isaiah 65, and the words “never again” of verse 20 practically popped off the page.
The passage points to the new heaven and new earth that God will create in the pages of Revelation, the “ending” of God’s Story that holds the ultimate promise of “never again”–that there will one day be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” {Revelation 21:4}.
So whether or not He delivers us from whatever wilderness we are in today, we can walk it in bold confidence in the hope of where we know we are going.
Until then, would we pay attention. Would we keep our eyes open, write things down, take photos. Would we listen for God’s voice, follow His promptings and would we look back and remember.
And as we remember the past would it fuel us with trust for our present and future.
