The real pot of gold

I post this on a beautiful, clear day here in Birmingham; I haven't seen so much as a raincloud in days. While days like this certainly stir up awe and thanksgiving for the One who created them, I still feel compelled to remember the work He does - and the light he shines - on the darker days.

I’ve always appreciated rainbows, but I think my true fascination with them really began on my sixteenth birthday. As we were driving to dinner, a rainbow shone in the sky ahead of us. I laughed to myself, thinking that this must be God’s birthday gift to me. That night, the rainbow represented joy.

On my eighteenth birthday, I went to a funeral. A guy in my youth group, who was just one year older than me, had collapsed on the basketball court and died. As a vanload of us drove from the funeral to a youth group retreat at camp, I saw a fragment of a rainbow in the sky. That afternoon, the rainbow gave me hope.

Since then, there have been more rainbows in the skies above my head than I could count. No matter what is going on or where I am, the rainbows always speak to me somehow. Sometimes, they simply whisper of God’s creativity. Some arcs boast of his power and majesty. Others tell me of his provision. Some just remind me that He is present, working, and beautiful.

My captivation with rainbows has made me especially observant of the circumstances – the rain, the light, the clouds - that usually create them, and I’ve been known to hunt them down. I journaled about one such chase – and its end – last August:

There was a beautiful sunshower the other night, and I hurried back and forth between the front and back doors, anxiously awaiting the rainbow that I knew would come. Finally, colors started to spring to life outside the front door. I watched as they became more vibrant, and I could see an arch forming. I ran to the back door to look for the other end of it; it was there, but it was faint. Back to the front door: I pushed the screen door open and held it, keeping most of myself inside and dry while my left arm soaked in a cold, light shower. If anyone saw me, I’m sure they would have laughed – I had a huge smile on my face that just refused to be bottled up as I marveled at this glorious artwork in the sky. I pondered the wonder of a God who would make something like a rainbow. The first word that came to mind was SPLENDOR. Absolute splendor. A rainstorm would be enough. The land’s thirst would be quenched and the dirt of every day would be washed away. But our God would not stop at “enough” – he would give more. He would take this chance to bless us with a moment of fleeting beauty, a demonstration of his talent and power and majesty. I praised God for this gift, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized that a second rainbow was forming outside of the first. What a good and generous God, what a clear demonstration of the fact that His glory and my joy and so closely intertwined. That rainbow existed for God to showcase his own glory, and it produced in me an uncontainable joy that overflowed in praise and thanksgiving to him.

Indeed, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord, especially when they are adorned with a rainbow. As much as I think I know where and when to look for that glory, rainbows have been known to sneak up on me. Recently, I was on my way to a friend’s house, lost in my own thoughts. Overwhelmed by the questions and emotions that I was wrestling with, I was in tears as I drove the familiar streets. The sky was overcast, and though the rain had mostly passed and there weren’t many sunbeams breaking through. Nonetheless, all of a sudden I turned a corner and saw a breathtaking rainbow in the sky. The tears came even harder; this rainbow had completely arrested me, and if I could have gotten down on my knees in the driver’s seat I would have. There I sat, consumed with worry and fear, without a fleeting consideration that God might be at work right in front of me – and then, there he was, reminding me of his grace, his goodness, his presence.

Rainbows point me to God in a way that few other things do. They remind me – in many different ways – that HE is my treasure, the one whose value surpasses gold and silver, the one who can bring beauty out of a storm, the one who will always provide, the one who is most glorified when I find joy and contentment in celebrating him.