FALL COLORS EVERYWHERE
"Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind."- Genesis 9:14-15
There is something breathtakingly glorious about the colors that announce the fall season. We get to experience the Creator's masterpiece canvas in mesmerizing sunsets and multi-colored leaves on trees. We witness the delightful decorations of pumpkins and cornucopia baskets, reminding us that this is a season of sweetness and abundance from the Lord. Even as I write to you today, with the weather finally cooperating (highs reaching the 60's), I chose to wear one of my favorite fall sweaters with a festive mixture of brown, orange, and cream. But from my viewpoint, the most wonderful colors of the fall has to be a RAINBOW.
Last Monday I went to visit Pastors Mike and Diana Crowley. Many would be aware that Mike was diagnosed with kidney cancer. As the conditioned has worsened and as Mike continues to battle, we continue to stand in faith and prayer for God's perfect will and healing touch for our dear friend. Thank you for surrounding the Crowley family with love and continuing to lift them up before our good and gracious heavenly Father. At the conclusion of that particular visit I was returning home on Moorpark Road, when I noticed a beautiful rainbow going from Avenida de Los Arboles towards the Crowley home. Almost immediately I sensed the word "REMEMBER" on my heart. Arriving home, I went to the story of Noah in Genesis, and read the above promise of God to His creation. Following the flood God sealed His love, care, and protection over Noah, his family, and the world by placing the symbol of a rainbow. This heavenly arch would appear following a storm as a reminder of God's promise. Not only would God never destroy the earth by a flood again, but that the rainbow, this visible array of colors in the sky, would remind us that God REMEMBERS US.
This phrase does not infer that God needs a reminder because He has forgotten us on a special day, lost us in a busy department store, or has overslept. When God "remembers" us it means that His very presence, plan, and promises are in full effect. He is presiding over our daily paths and our futures. He is guiding us through life's obstacles and towards His purposes. He is caring for our most basic needs and deepest wounds. As Noah, his family, and the greatest zoo ever came off the ark, God establishes this new chapter, this new beginning with a colorful reminder of His covenant. David declares this vibrant truth about God's covenant in I Chronicles 16:15, "He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations." What a beautiful thing that Noah was no longer confined to an ark, no longer traveling through a storm, and no longer living in the past conditions. A new season had dawned and opened to him, one that God very much wanted Noah to be aware of and confident in.
We too are walking in a new season with the unmistakable seal of God's loving covenant. Jesus offers us His very life and gift so that we can experience new life. We are not trapped by our former ways which were apart from God, we are not overwhelmed by the floods that seek to destroy us, and we are not left alone to journey into the "unknown" next chapter of life. Hebrews 9:15 tells us, "For this reason Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Because it all comes back to God's loving and perfect plan, all things for us are made new!
What a beautiful way for God to display His love and promise by placing a rainbow in the sky for all to take in and marvel. That it would be a colorful and constant reminder that our God "remembers" us. God remembers Mike and Diana Crowley during this incredible difficult season facing a horrid disease. And God remembers you! He knows and sees your needs, heart cry, and dreams. Today, in the midst of all the storms and in the midst of all the unknowns, God wants us to see His promise just as clearly as ever before. He is the God who replaces the storm clouds with rainbows and who reassures our hearts in the midst of our fiercest challenges!