Genesis 9:12-14 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.
One of the most interesting parts of nature is that of the rainbow.
The rainbow is defined as the arch of brilliant colors that appears in the sky when the sun shines after a shower of rain.
It forms in that part of the sky opposite the sun.
If the rain has been heavy, the bow may spread all the way across the sky, and its two ends seem to rest on the earth.
There are seven colors of the rainbow: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
These blend into each other so much that most observers only see four or five colors.
Across the world, rainbows are known by many different names. Italians call it the “flashing arch”.
The people of Annam call a rainbow “the little window in the sky”.
North African tribes greet the rainbow as the “bride of the rain”.
People in central Europe call it the “bridge of the Holy Spirit”.
Whatever you call it , it is beautiful and wonderful.
Each of us have heard the story of Noah and the ark.
We understand Noah and his family were saved by the ark when God sent a flood to destroy the world that had become wicked.
At the end of the flood, and after a period of the earth drying, the inhabitants of the ark were allowed to leave the ark and return to the earth.
God then spoke to Noah and gave him various promises.
One of those promises involved the rainbow.
At the conclusion of a shower of rain, God said that he would put a bow in the sky that would be an everlasting sign of a promise between God and all living creatures on the earth.
This promise was that God would no longer destroy the whole earth with a flood.
Every time you and I see a rainbow fill the sky after the rain, we can be reminded of one of God’s awesome promises that have remained true throughout the ages of time.
The Bible associates the rainbow with a manifestation of divine glory.
The rainbow has always been a source relating to the divine promises of God’s glory and power.
The spiritual significance of Noah’s rainbow was a sign of God’s love and pledge of His sparing mercy.
In the book of Revelation there is a rainbow mentioned round about the throne of Jehovah.
This is a symbol of mercy to God’s children amidst the coming judgments on the wicked.
Throughout the scriptures, the rainbow is the emblem of God’s loving faithfulness to His covenant with His people, and the pledge of sure hope to them.
When we think of the rainbow, we think of the awesomeness of God.
We are reminded that He is a God who keeps his promises.
We see that God will never forget His people regardless of the problem.
We understand that there is hope from the sin and wickedness of the world.
It is representative of the Christian life which allows us to walk with Him and be a part of a heavenly Kingdom.
I think it safe to say that we all want the rainbow in our life.
We want an assurance that God is with us and will not forget who we are.
We need to be reminded of His love and closeness.
We forget too often of the hope that is within us and need God to wrap his arms of promise around us and assure he cares.
I want the rainbow in my life.
I want to know that God cares and loves and keeps his promise.
Yet there is something that is most evident in the scripture when God gave this distinct promise to Noah.
Three times God promised a rainbow to Noah.
Notice:
Verse 13 “I do set my bow in the cloud”.
Verse 14 “When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud”.
Verse 16 “And the bow shall be in the cloud”.
As I read these verses over and over something seemed to stand out like a neon sign.
The Lord promised a rainbow.
Thank God for the rainbow.
I am grateful for the covenant of the rainbow.
That assures me and gives me strength.
However, every time he promised a rainbow, he also promised a cloud!
Oh no!
Take the rainbow away.
Forget the rainbow.
I don’t need a rainbow if I have to face the cloud.
Clouds mean storms.
Clouds represent rain.
With clouds comes the wind and lightening.
I want the rainbow in my life, but I don’t want the cloud!
There is something special about the promises of God and his intended blessings on his people.
He really wants to “open up the window of heaven” and pour out an eternal blessing to each of us.
That makes me want to shout and rejoice.
I want to see God’s blessing on my life and my family and my friends.
But I don’t always want to do what is associated with those blessings.
One day the man of God was praying and asked the Lord for help and direction for the people of God.
The Lord promised that he would not turn away a deaf ear and would hear the prayer.
The Lord promised a divine touch of his blood in order for the sins of the people to be cleansed.
And finally he promised a sweeping healing power to flow in the land so that all could be healed.
That is awesome!
Really, words won’t describe the promises of God.
To know that you can be healed, delivered from sin, and have all your prayers answered covers about all you and I could ever hope to have.
I have just illustrated the rainbow of God’s promise.
Now I need to tell you how to find the rainbow in your life.
You have to walk through the cloud.
The Lord said that we would have these promises, if…
…My people would humble themselves.
…and pray.
…and seek His face.
…and turn from their wicked way.
It is not all rose pedals lining the streets to glory.
There are thorns along the way.
If I want to see the dynamic move of God in my life, then I must be willing to endure the rain that occasionally comes.
No professional football team that plays its home games in a domed stadium with artificial turf has ever won the Super Bowl.
While a climate-controlled stadium protects players and fans from the misery of sleet, snow, mud heat, and wind, players who brave the elements on a regular basis are disciplined to handle hardship whenever it’s found.
If you want to enjoy the rainbow from God, you must endure the rain that God sends.
You must endure the storms and put up with the things that make life uncomfortable.
We live in a generation that is spoiled.
We want the comforts of life without reservation.
It is difficult for anyone to put up with being inconvenienced for a lengthy period of time.
I’m not just talking about the younger generation.
This applies to my generation also.
We despise inconvenience.
But if we are going to amount to anything and if we are going to have access to the promises of God, we may have to be inconvenienced.
I am going to be candid and honest this morning. I want each of us to enjoy the blessing and freshness of the rainbow.
It is my intent to see that each of us have all we can have when it comes to this thing called Christianity.
I don’t want to be left out.
I don’t want to miss out on what God designed for me.
I want the blessings of God but in order to get them and for me to enjoy the fullness of life, I may have to stand in the rain.
And so I speak openly today to this generation of Christians.
The more beautiful the rainbow, the longer and harder it has to rain.
If you only see a faint, weak looking rainbow, then you know it was only a short shower of rain.
When you see the rainbow in its glory and array with all the colors of nature vividly being displayed to the human eye, then you know there must have been a heavy and lengthy rain.
If I get to enjoy the rainbow of God’s love, favor, and promises, then there must be a storm.
The clouds must form over my personal life and the wind must blow against my comfort zone.
I have to develop the power to stand against the wind and adversity.
I must be willing to endure.
Let me first say that something bothers me today.
I have talked to some of you about this, and in fact, have touched on it a few times in the past several months.
I am appalled at the lack of concern that parents have for the spiritual welfare of their children. Not just here but in the Church in general.
I am going to speak out and say that we can’t blame the condition of the coming generation on that generation, but we must put the blame where the blame is due.
We live in a generation where a young girl can give birth to a child in a gym locker room and dump the baby in a garbage can.
We live in a generation where parents can leave the baby outside a home or hospital for someone else to care for, because it is too difficult to raise that child.
I speak spiritually day.
It is too easy to ease through life without a spiritual concern for our kids.
We hope that we can endure the first 18 or so years and then they are grown and on their own.
I am seeing, however, a generation that is not concerned about praying.
I am seeing a group that will not be able to survive unless something happens.
I am seeing something take place, which had better cause the church alarm because they won’t be committed.
But there is a way to change all that.
The Bible gives us a clear picture of Job.
We dwell on his financial ability and his rank among the leaders of that day.
The Bible calls him “the greatest of all the men of the east”.
Yet, what stands out to me is not his financial statement.
The Bible says that he had a very great household.
When his sons and daughters got together for a feast, old Dad recognized what was happening.
The scripture says that “when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all.”
Job did not do this once, but the Bible says he did it continually.
Where is the parent that will sacrifice for their child’s spiritual welfare?
We will go out of our way to help them with the secular programs at school.
We want them to be accepted in the social status of their generation and will allow things contrary to the scripture and the church doctrine for them to be happy.
But when it comes to the church…look out.
But we need to see Mom’s and Dad’s that will take a close look at the condition of a little soul and bombard heaven with prayers.
I’m not talking about a little short nighttime prayer.
I’m talking about a sacrifice of prayer and fasting until there are some changes that take place in the life and with the attitude of the children.
I want to see the children grow up, and become productive citizens and exceptional saints.
In other words, I don’t want our kids to mess up in life.
I want to have some rainbows standing around here.
But if I get to see the rainbow, I must endure the rain!
I have to stand with truth when truth is being torn up in the classroom.
I must openly believe what is right when being right is not popular.
I must tell the children there is a God who loves them and living for God is the most important thing in the world.
I must warn them that this same God is coming one day and the only way to make it is for them to be filled with God’s presence.
It may take standing in the rain or walking through the storm.
It may be difficult to say NO occasionally.
But if we don’t look at this group I’m talking about, in a few years they will stand against us when it comes time to do anything for God.
They won’t want to come to church.
They will rebel against authority.
They will spit in your face and laugh.
I’d rather face the storm now and enjoy the rainbow later.
I’d rather sacrifice now with intercessory prayer now for them and hold them down to the altar rather than come crying later on and ask what am I going to do?
If we aren’t careful, we are going to allow a future rainbow to slip out of our grasp because we aren’t parents enough to be the parents God wants us to be.
Recently Lynn Johnston’s “For Better or Worse” comic strip depicted the father changing all the clocks.
When his little daughter asks why, he explains carefully that putting the clocks ahead gives an extra hour of daylight every evening, that they will be changed back in the fall, and that it is called Daylight Savings Time.
His little girl says, “Daddy, if it’s called Daylight Savings Time, will you save some time for me?”
Oh, for a Mom and a Dad that will save some time to see that their children receive the spiritual guidance needed.
You’ll have to endure the rain and storm and wind, but you’ll get to enjoy the beauty of a spectacular rainbow.
I want the rainbow, but I don’t want the rain. The rain that causes the rainbow will be discomforting, sometimes cold, and leave you looking ragged at times.
But you and I need to withstand whatever it takes to see that our family makes it.
We all want heaven, but we don’t all want to do what it takes to get to heaven.
I wish I knew what it was going to take for me to walk on streets of gold.
I wish I knew what it would take for me to see that rainbow around the throne of heaven.
I don’t.
And truthfully, I don’t think I really want to know.
But I do know it will take some rain in my life.
It may take us walking in this generation against the popular concept of the generation.
The spirit of this generation is not conducive to living for God.
There is a lot of talk about Christianity, and the latest poll says that 74% of all Americans are Christian believers.
But only 38% attend church on a regular basis.
Only 27% give of their tithe and offerings on a regular basis, and the average weekly contribution is $20 per person!
It may cost me to give, but I will get to enjoy the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.
I may have to endure the rain to get the rainbow.
I may have to stand for truth when truth is not the going thing to stand for.
There is a strong call for us to be in unity with the ideas of this world.
I am a firm believer in unity.
Unity produces results, but only if unity adheres to the truth written in the Word of God.
There is a need for this church to hold on to truth regardless of the popular demands.
I may have to endure the rain to get the rainbow.
I may have to be holy, when the spirit of this world turns against anything that is holy.
Anything that is holy is against the spirit of Satan.
He wants to tear up the standard of holiness that produces a heart that is pure, a mind that is clean, and spirit that is right.
When those things happen, then the outside of men and women will begin to look like Jesus looked.
I may have to endure the rain to enjoy the rainbow.
I may have to look different, when there is pressure to join the crowd.
There is nothing wrong with our looking like a Christian.
I get tired of hearing the complaints that we have to dress a certain way and look a certain way in order to be a Christian.
What if you belonged to the Muslim sect?
What if you were a Krishna follower?
What would you say if you were raised a Minnininite?
I don’t want to complain.
I may have to endure the rain to get the rainbow.
I may not get to join in all the games and programs of this society, when there is a call for everyone to compromise for the convenience of all.
The same old idea today is not new.
Just because everyone else is doing it, does not mean it is what God wants us to do.
I may have to endure a little rain to get to see the rainbow.
Folks if we are going to be children of God, and we are going to bring up children who also will be children of God, then we are going to have to put up with some rain.
We are going to have to let our children see us pray, we are going to have to stop being ashamed when we give thanks for our food at a restaurant.
We’re going to have to start turning off those TV’s and reading our Bibles if we are to know what God’s plans are for our lives.
We’re going to have to start setting aside some time every day for prayer and seeking God, and I’m not talking about 4 or 5 minutes I’m talking about real praying, taking a half hour or so and giving it to the God who gave you life and grants you salvation and eternal life.
We need to develop some tolerance and discipline and become dedicated to the cause that pleases God and touches His heart.
We need to start loving the things He loves and hating the things He hates.
How do you know what those things are?
Start reading His Word, and seeking Him in prayer and He’ll show you what those things are.
And remember if you want God’s blessings in your life, if you want that rainbow, your going to have to put up with the rain.
