Joy In the Clouds

Genesis 9: 8 -17 (NLT)

⁸ Then God told Noah and his sons, ⁹ “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, ¹⁰ and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

¹² Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. ¹³ I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. ¹⁴ When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, ¹⁵ and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. ¹⁶ When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” ¹⁷ Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

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

it’s interesting in the last few weeks our country has seen a lot of rain.  I am sure it’s nothing compared to what Noah and his family experienced as shared in Genesis.

We often refer to Jesus or God being in the clouds or somewhere up in heaven. This comes to reality went through what he created in the sunshine reflects from these clouds and produces a rainbow.   I recently attended the funeral of my father which was a happy sad event.  I have two special memories from this day. 

Firstly, the area in which the funeral was held was very dry and the locals were in desperate need of rain. There was talk of a storm brewing but there was no sign of this as we entered the church that afternoon.  As we were leaving the church carrying the coffin a very light mist greeted us. I remember commenting to all the other pallbearers that this mist was tears of joy as my father was reunited with his heavenly father. Clouds had appeared and we’re covering the sky.

The next amazing thing that I remember was watching the coffin descend into the ground. It was then that the sun broke through the clouds creating a rainbow from one side of the earth to the other. This was surely a sign of the covenant that God had made all those years ago

The whole day reminded me of the darkness that God overcomes. The joy in the clouds is remembering that the darkness can be overridden as the tears we had experienced earlier was a reminder of our baptism and then through the rainbow his promise Is a covenant that he has made between us for the whole of our life and he does not fail us.

Prayer

Thank you, father, for the covenant you have created to protect us in all that we do. Remind us of no matter what drops may be falling or what clouds may be threatening, when You shine there will be a rainbow. Hang that rainbow over us to protect us in all that we do so we can reflect the colours of your life.

Stephen Zanker