PROMISES

devotional for Sunday 8/26/12

God's promises are amazing.  As I walked out of a doctor's office this past week, having received some serious information to consider, I was greeted by a light misting of rain.  Yet, being close to evening, the sun was shining brightly from the west, beneath the clouds.  It was bright enough that I had to wear my sunglasses - in the rain!  As the clouds and their precipitation moved off to the east, the amazing raindrop prisms refracted the light into that spectrum of colors we know as a rainbow.  It reminded me of God's promise to Noah.

 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 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.”  Genesis 9:12-15 NIV 

This promise brings great relief from concerns, not only about the earth being destroyed by floods, but also relief from the fear that our individual circumstances will drown us.  We can place our trust in God's promise to not destroy our lives.  Interestingly, you can never see the rainbow without having the storm - we see God's promise to spare us from being completely overwhelmed most clearly when we are in the midst of facing difficulties in life.  God promises not to drown us in sorrows or worries and is there with the greatest life preserver this world has ever seen - Christ Jesus.  Even if this earthly life ends, those with faith in Jesus as their Savior are promised eternal life in heaven with him.

written by Jan Anderesn  

(I took this picture of this bright rainbow with a faint double as I looked down our street during one of our evening showers)