rainbow covenant

Rainbow Promises

Did you know that earth is the only planet that has rainbows? Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez recently noted that we’re on the only planet in the Solar System to get them. Rainbows form from suspended water droplets in the atmosphere that are hit by the direct sunlight when the sun is located between the horizon and 42 degrees altitude. This typically occurs just after a thunderstorm has passed and small droplets are still in the atmosphere, and the sky is clearing in front of the sun. No other planet has enough sunlight and moisture to produce the rainbow effect. We get amazing rainbows in the Outer Banks.

From a biblical perspective, God set the rainbow in the sky for one reason: To anchor his promise of a covenant relationship with us:

Genesis (Common English Bible)

9 ¹²And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to us that God is near when our hope has dried out. This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to us that God is near when our wisdom fails us. This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to trust that God is always near! When we feel helpless and find ourselves at a loss for what to do next, when some aspect of our joy has flamed out and we can’t reignite the spark anymore, and when something has truly died in us, that is when we need to remember that God can bring anything back to life by simply saying the word.

Your dead dreams, your lifeless marriage, your dry relationship with your teenager, your wasteland of a career, your hollow bank account, your terminal battle with addiction … even the division that daily is destroying our country … God can breathe life into all of these places. Jesus, the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that was God, is where we can place our hope and trust. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead ensures our eternal life. Because he lives, we shall live also.

So the next time you feel as though all the light has gone out of your life, look up. God can and will breathe new life by the power of his word into whatever you’ve lost. You can count on his promises.

From Heaven to Earth

Choose Joy

Posted on January 24 by Betsy

You may have noticed that this is the third time this week that I have offered you a picture of an Outer Banks rainbow. It seems everyone in my coastal area had a profound reaction to this beautiful reminder of God’s love. One set of people saw it just after a “Viking funeral” for two brothers. Another family saw it just after the funeral of their beloved patriarch. Seeing God in rainbows is biblical:

Genesis 9 (New International Version)

¹³I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

Rainbows remind us of God’s covenant to love, protect, and cherish all life on earth.

Today, I thought you would enjoy hearing from Averi Creef, a young adult who grew up in my church. Averi is a blessed child of God and her “Gen Z” perspective of the rainbow is refreshing and insightful.

I’m sure most of you saw the rainbow. I had just clocked out of my job when I first spotted it and raced to the beach access closest to me. I felt a shift in my heart after what has seemed like such a chaotic and negative chapter of life. I’m learning to grow and to try my absolute best to slow down, and this moment beautified this exact goal of mine.

To some it may just be a rainbow, but to me it’s the Lord’s reminder and promise that everything will be just fine. So often we gripe about what’s going wrong in our lives, I know I’m a great example of this sometimes (so I’m honestly calling myself out). While we groan about how miserable we are, we miss out on so many things.

All the craziness and negativity lately in the media has been so draining and hard to see… as well as the recent news about TikTok. Don’t get me wrong, as a prime example of a Gen Z woman, I am upset about the loss of the app, and I do have a lot of good memories and joy surrounding it- especially throughout the pandemic with that being the best way we could find to spread smiles and laughter while physically disconnected. However, none of these things truly suck all that bad.

I ran into an older woman taking in the beauty of the rainbow while I was, and watched as she took a couple photos, and we chatted about how nice it was to enjoy this together. I even offered to take some photos of her with the view in the background and she was speechless from the kind gesture. Goes to show that we need to do more of this. A couple others pulled into the beach access beside us and joined in on our conversation and we all agreed that this moment was what we all needed. It was personally the most wholesome interaction I’ve had in months.

A beautiful moment of conversation and awe with mere strangers is what the world needs more of. Don’t get me wrong, life can really chew us up and spit us out some days, but that’s the case for everyone. I’m personally going to try and complain less (not going to be easy at first), and instead, choose joy… because life is freaking short and can be worthwhile if we try. Lend a smile or a helping hand this week. The world needs it, and it needs you.

From the mouths of babes! Averi has delivered a sermon worthy of our attention. Learn how to grow. Slow down. Seek conversations with strangers. Complain less. Life can be worthwhile if we try. Lend a smile or helping hand to someone.

The world needs you.

So choose joy.

Choose Joy by Averi Creef

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Betsy

I love everything about living in the Outer Banks except January and February. Don’t get me wrong, if you love the color GREY, this is the place to be. But the days upon days upon days of rain do me in after a while. Walking the dog becomes a challenge of finding how far up our neighbor’s front lawns we have to go to avoid puddles that take days to clear. Winds make umbrellas impossible, if not somewhat dangerous!

I know, first world problems. But I really miss the sun and the blue skies.

One of the rewards of the rain, however, is an abundance of rainbows. Probably because we enjoy “big sky” in every direction, rainbow spotting is a common occurrence. As the rain begins to taper off and the sun (finally) emerges, the perfect conditions are created for these beautiful reminders of God’s promises.

Today’s lectionary takes us to that very moment when God established the bow as a sign of his protection:

Genesis 9 (Common English Bible)

⁸God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹“I am now setting up my covenant with you, with your descendants, ¹⁰and with every living being with you—with the birds, with the large animals, and with all the animals of the earth, leaving the ark with you. ¹¹I will set up my covenant with you so that never again will all life be cut off by floodwaters. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

We understand the word covenant to be more than just a promise. It is an ironclad agreement brought about through the relationship of God and his people. It has the force of law, and is unbreakable. It is a contract that is signed by the very word of God.

¹²God said, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I am drawing up between me and you and every living thing with you, on behalf of every future generation. ¹³I have placed my bow in the clouds; it will be the symbol of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember the covenant between me and you and every living being among all the creatures. Floodwaters will never again destroy all creatures. ¹⁶The bow will be in the clouds, and upon seeing it I will remember the enduring covenant between God and every living being of all the earth’s creatures.” ¹⁷God said to Noah, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I have set up between me and all creatures on earth.”

Later would come a contract that was signed by the very Word of God. Jesus is our final Covenant, and when we receive him into our lives, we have an ironclad guarantee that we will find refuge, shelter, forgiveness, and protection under his wings.

Where have you broken your side of the covenant with God? Have you willfully walked away and set aside all of his promises for the fake promises of the world? Are you guilty of turning away from what God has called you to do, say, think, or repair? Perhaps this is the moment to return. The best thing about God’s promises is that they are always available to the repentant seeker.

God is our great Covenant-Maker. He sent Jesus as the final signature on the contract. You can bet your life on it.

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