Rainbows are very special to me.  When I see them, they remind me of a time in my life, when I was distraught, and a Rainbow reminded me of God’s love and care for me.  It reminded me that God was for me after the storms of life.

I’m sure many people have stories like mine– where they date someone when they are young, the relationship falls apart, and one or both are left with broken hearts.

I was like many people, I thought my heart would be broken forever, and I would always feel sad and dismal. 

I was very fortunate to have people who loved me who told me their stories so that I would realize my life was not over.  My dad told me about a girl he dated, that he thought he loved, before he dated my mom.   He said at the time when they broke up, he was heartbroken, but God had someone for him that was a much better match for him.  (My parents were married for 52 years, and everyone who knew them, recognized the love that existed between them.  They loved and served each other, and the last 5 years of my Dad’s life, my Mom was my Dad’s caregiver, caring for him after he had had a major stroke.  We saw my parents live out their love for each other for better or worse, and it was so real and so romantic.)

One day, when I was particularly blue, my mom’s friend came to visit.   She noticed my sadness and started talking to me.  She ended up telling me that she had been married and divorced before.  She said it was the hardest thing she had ever gone through—the sense of betrayal and rejection—and wondering if her life was now over.

While we were talking a rainstorm had been taking place outside.  My mom’s friend told me that she became a Christian because of her first marriage breaking up.  She realized that God loved her and would never leave her, never betray her.  Then – she later met her 2^nd husband.  They married, had two children, and they have been married for over 50 years now.

After the rain stopped, we went out on my parent’s front porch.  We looked up into the sky and there was this beautiful rainbow and the sun was shining through it, bringing out all the colors.  My mom’s friend looked at me and said, “This is your promise from God that you will never have to go through anything so traumatic again.”

When I went back to college in the fall, I arrived on my dorm floor and all the doors had rainbows on the doors.   In my mind, I heard my mom’s friend say again, “This is your promise from God that you will never have to go through anything so traumatic again.” 

6 months earlier, I had decided to trust Jesus to be my Savior, and to follow Him.  I got involved in a bible study at college and started to learn about what God wanted me to know about living life.

I realized that God wanted to fill my life with His Spirit.  He wanted me to know and experience His love and forgiveness.  He also wanted to protect me and provide for me.

He wanted to protect my heart from being broken again.  He wanted to protect me from diseases.  He wanted to protect me from a pregnancy before I was ready and able to handle a responsibility of a child.

He wanted to provide for me a husband I could trust.  He wanted to provide for me a husband who had character.  He wanted to provide for me a husband who would be a good father to our children and someone who would help me raise those children.

(In reading over what I just wrote, I am struck anew with the fact that—that is exactly what God did provide for me through my husband of over 30 years.)

I believe that God has a heart to love us and want the very best for each of us, and when we come to His Word and what His word is telling us, we need to read it with that in mind.

Jesus talks about this when He tells us that if anyone hears His words and listens and obeys, they are like a man who built his house on the rock, and when the rains came and the storms came, (rains and storms always come in life), the house stood firm.   On the other hand, if one does not listen to Jesus, they are like a man who built his house on the sand, and when the rains and storms came that house was destroyed.

God does not want our house—our life to be destroyed—that is His motivation.  He loves us—He wants the best for us.

If we haven’t been listening to Him, we can start.  The God I know is a genius at rebuilding houses that have been destroyed – and putting them on a solid foundation.   It is never too late to cast oneself into the Hands of a loving and forgiving God and ask for a new beginning. 

That is what I see when I look at a Rainbow, I see a promise from God after the storms of life, that we will never have to go through that destruction again, when we build on Him and His foundation.

So Be Encouraged!!