Time stood still as I kept driving hoping to make progress on the trip home. It reminded me that regular days drag on forever. Soon I was sailing on the highway, armed with caffeine and a new determination to get home. Before long a rainstorm hit, the sun still shining and traffic stopped which allowed me to look at the rainbow. 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The last time I saw a triple rainbow I was on a ferry to Mackinac Island with a dear friend. God’s promises rang true, not just for me, but for other women that day.
Genesis 9:12 I am giving you a sign with my covenant with you and all the living creatures I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is a sign of my covenant with you and all the earth.
The last time I saw the rainbow in the sky on the way to Mackinac, on that ferry, we were both in desperate need of a reset of our hearts and our attitudes. Neither of our lives was headed in the best direction. It was true we had lived in the same town, rooted for the same team, married men with similar traits and characteristics. Other than that our lives began in very different places; hers in Texas, mine in Missouri. Throughout our adolescence and young adulthood, twists and turns shaped our lives. At each crossroad, the Lord showed up in mighty ways.
As part of the retreat weekend, we mapped out the highs and lows of our lives. As we marked each life timeline with sticky notes. We sat in the hotel dumbfounded staring at the wall of sticky notes. We both moved through the decades with predictable patterns; forward, plot twist, then the Lord showed up. It was remarkable to watch the parallel lines of our lives and we noticed that after particularly trying moments, junctures that changed our lives forever…each time God showed up with His love and mercy JUST IN TIME. The Lord showed up with His grace, mercy, and strength to get us through not only the crisis of the day but also the adversity to follow.
At times the journey seemed long, the terrain difficult and yet we made a turn and God was there. In later years, He gave us the gift of friendship with one another so that we could laugh and pray to get through the good times and bad. As the rain comes down on the highway through the sunshine, I am reminded that God stops us in our tracks to see the important things. He wants us to remember what He has done for us and thank Him for the people and places He has brought into our lives to bless us through the rain so that we smile when the sun shines again. My wish for each and every one of you is that you see the triple rainbow in your lives…that you see the optimism and hope provided by a life with Jesus and develop an attitude of gratitude. It is the only way to see the sun.