We all know that God placed the rainbow in the sky to promise that He would never again flood the earth as He had done Noah’s day. But I decided I needed to know more, so I had to do some research. As I read, I got a bigger picture. So I am going to share what I have been learning. And then I will go back and explain what I am calling “my job description”.
A lesson in rainbows…
“Without millions of rain droplets, a rainbow would not occur. If you only had a few rain droplets you would only see a few colors. This is typically why rainbows appear after a rain storm.” (1) Many of us wish away the rain. But it is the often the very things that bring the storms in our lives that also show us His promise. Don’t wish away the rain. Don’t hide from it. Embrace it for what it holds – both lessons and promise. God has said in His Word that He will not give us more than we can bear. We may bend a little under the weight but so doesn’t the rainbow? Bending makes us more flexible. More able to survive when the next storms that come.
“Rainbows happen when sunlight and rain combine in a very specific way. The beams of sunlight separate into the colors we see in the rainbow as they enter a raindrop.” (2) God is Light. He pours Himself out during our rainstorms of life. And His light pierces our darkness, and He makes all things clear and beautiful. And it is here in the breaking-through that He fills us with promise by bursting forth into glorious color.
What the onlooker sees is a reflection of His light. “Each individual droplet of water acts as a tiny prism that both disperses the light and reflects in back to your eye.” (3) Isn’t it interesting that the rainbow comes after, not during the storm. During the storm, it would be too hard for us to see the beauty He has creating out of it. It is only after His light has broken through, that the rain becomes a part of the beauty. And this is when it is shown to others. Refraction is changing the direction of a ray of light. First God’s light penetrates the rain, or the hard things, in our lives and then He brings glory to Himself by redirecting that beauty so that all who are observant will see what He has done.
Those who know me well know that I love prisms. I have prisms in my living room and dining room where the sun spills through the windows and makes little tiny reminders of God’s promises to me. They dance on my walls and floors and ceilings. They fill me with childlike wonder. And I consider this one of the greatest gifts I have passed on to my grandchildren. Seeing His wonder in the little things and trying to see it in everything. When they sleep over at my house they often wake in the morning light and run to the kitchen and ask me to “make rainbows”. You see, I have survived many rainstorms in my life. Enough to fill a book. But I have always emerged from the rain to see the beautiful rainbows He has made. It takes time. It doesn’t always happen overnight. But it has happened so often for me that I trust in the rainbow. I know that it is one the horizon. I know there is more ahead for me and that “the best is yet to come.” (4)
And this brings me to the “job description” part of this epistle. “Rainbows can be caused by many forms of airborne water. These include not only rain, but also mist, spray, and airborne dew.” (5) Here is the picture that I had this morning. I am a mentor. I love looking into the eyes of another human being and seeing what they cannot see themselves. I am fueled by seeing the promise that lies within the souls of men and women. My dream is to help others live their dreams. So I water rainbows. When God grants me the privilege to see the magnificent potential that He has placed within a person, I am passionate about watching His work in their lives. I thrive on seeing them grow and mature and gain understanding about who He has made them to be. And so I sit on the sidelines with my spray bottle in hand. And when they get discouraged or lose sight of where they are in the process, I spritz a little water on the rainbow; add a few more drops to bring a little more color back to life. I will listen. I will answer. I will laugh. I will weep. I will hope alongside the hopeless. And I will try to encourage those who have lost their way. It’s my job description. And it’s the best job I’ve ever had.
Sources:
(1) How A Rainbow is Formed (http://wwwp.cord.edu/faculty/manning/physics215/studentpages/genamahlen.html)
(2) Discovery Kids
(http://kids.discovery.com/tell-me/curiosity-corner/weather/how-do-rainbows-form)
(3) The Physics Classroom (http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/u14l4b.cfm)
(4) Heidi Thomas, brilliant friend
(5) Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow)