The other year my daughter got a glimpse of a rainbow at our house that just amazed her. It was short lived but she talked about it all the time after. Almost every time there would be rain and sun thereafter, we would run outside on the porch and we’d try to spot another rainbow. Sometimes I would run out myself staring up and straining to find just a bit of color in the sky. Usually it didn’t amount to much.

Not too long after that occurrence we entered into a period of nervousness and fear basically any time in would rain. Between thunderstorms, random power outages, and just heavy, noisy rains at night, my daughter started to develop a bit of an uneasiness anytime it clouded up or a rumble was heard. This continued for most of that summer. I would still make it my mission to run out as soon as it ended to try to find a rainbow again, thinking I could assuage the fearfulness with another sighting. Needless to say it didn’t really happen.

Fast forward to the beginning of summer this past year and we have our first thunderstorm just a little before bedtime. My immediate dread of the nightly fears and nervousness come flooding back from the summer before. But as we walked passed a window we happened to glace out to see the biggest rainbow stretching across the sky right in front of our house. There was no missing it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rainbow that big or that close since we’ve lived at this house (I’d share a picture here but I just doesn’t do it any justice at all to the beauty and enormousness that it really was).

I had a few thoughts in that moment as this beautiful rainbow calmed my daughters nervousness before bed. One was that I was probably going to have to write a Lenten devo about this experience. And the other was how this illustrates God’s work in our lives. We see Him at work in perhaps a simple little way, and when we catch that glimpse we try to replicate it ourselves. We strain to try to find Him where we want Him to be. We try to make something happen in our own strength and by our own power. But much like my rainbow search that won’t amount to much. But when we don’t rely on our own power and our own “magic” to make it happen – my daughter is also in the fairy/princess phase now so there’s lots of magic and “poof”-ing happening around here right now – when we just have open eyes to see what He has for us, we get something better than we could ever have imagined.

So I don’t know what fears and anxieties you have in your life. I don’t know what the storms are that you are going through. But if I could give just a little piece of advice it’s to remember that God is still walking alongside you. And that He is faithful. It might take a season and you might feel like the storms keep coming your way, but remember that He is
faithful. He will bring you through this. You don’t have to worry about straining to try to find Him or trying to make
answers and solutions by your own power. Just trust that He is with you and that He has good things in store for you. And keep your eyes open for that beautiful rainbow in the sky after the storm.

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. (Isaiah 25:1)

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)