I have no poetry to record this event.
Two years ago, God sang Isaiah 54 over my broken spirit. It filled me with hope and buoyancy. In verse 9 it says,
“For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor rebuke you.”
As I pondered in my heart on that, I was driving to the shop to buy vanilla ice cream to go along with some apple pies I’d made for my fellows at work. As I drove there, a radiant rainbow broke open the rainless blue sky in declarative colors. I laughed and thanked God for His promise.
The years have been heavy on me, and hard, but He has been faithful. At difficult times, rainbows have appeared in the sky to remind me that I have peace with God. Once, a stranger pulled me out of my own fog to see one. She got my attention and pointed to a rainbow in the sky. “Isn’t that strange?” she asked, “There’s a rainbow, but not a cloud in the sky.” She pointed out we hadn’t had rain; we weren’t meant to have rain. “Don’t you need rain to have a rainbow?” I remembered He was with me and the remembering dispersed my fog.
Sunday evening, so low on hope, my buoyancy long-spent, I again drove to the store to get ice cream. The sky hinting earlier at rainbows now proclaimed the largest, longest, most resplendent rainbow I’d ever seen. From horizon to horizon, the promise was brilliant and broadcast. People reacted in shock as they wandered out into the parking lot underneath the exhibit. I began texting my family to step outside, to gaze in wonder, but as I did gray clouds blew over the rainbow, erasing it from the sky and leaving naught but dark storm in its wake.
I was grateful for the view I had, but troubled by how easily storm can obscure promise. I thanked God, and I found myself begging Him to protect His promise from all harm, even harm caused by the recipients of His promise. I begged Him not to let anything cover up His kindness, or arouse His displeasure. My heart felt hopeful, but I couldn’t shake how easily the dark gray of storm hid even the strongest rainbow.
The next night, around 1am, my dogs asked me to take them outside. They made it sound important. I walked out into the darkness and wandered through the grass with them. I looked up to greet the moon, as has always been my custom.
An unbroken lunar halo traced a wide, unbroken circle all the way around the moon. The circle of light felt so close, it seemed like I was standing inside its circumference. All the colors of the rainbow shone through the black night sky. The circle was complete, the contrast highlighted its beauty, and it remained intact even when I returned inside.
His anger is ceased; His loving faithfulness endures unbroken forever. Storms may blow in, but He never leaves. He intends good to His people. He is willing and able. He is the one and only God, I tell you.
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
“For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the LORD of armies;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
“For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.
“For a brief moment I abandoned you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting favor I will have compassion on you,”
Says the LORD your Redeemer.
“For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor rebuke you.
For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My favor will not be removed from you,
Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,”
Says the LORD who has compassion on you.
“Afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And I will lay your foundations with sapphires.
“Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones.
“All your sons will be taught by the LORD;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.
“In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.
“If anyone fiercely attacks you, it will not be from Me.
Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
“Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals
And produces a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.
“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
And you will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
Let all God’s people say amen.
Amen.
