00:00Have you ever noticed that a rainbow doesn't always show up on a perfect day?
00:07Most of the time, a rainbow appears after rain, after dark clouds, after the sky has been heavy,
00:17after the air has been unsettled.
00:21It comes when the storm has already passed through, or when the storm is finally breaking.
00:28And I think that matters, because the rainbow was never meant to be just a pretty thing in the sky.
00:36It was never only decoration.
00:39It was never only color.
00:42It was never a reminder.
00:44It was never meant to be owned by an agenda.
00:49In scripture, the rainbow first appeared as a sign of covenant.
00:53After the flood, after judgment, after loss, after the world had been washed clean and Noah stepped into the changed
01:04earth,
01:05God placed the rainbow in the clouds and connected it to a promise.
01:10Not a vague feeling, not a passing mood, a promise.
01:16God was saying, in effect, when you see this, remember me.
01:24Remember that I am still here.
01:27Remember I have not forgotten mercy.
01:30Remember that destruction does not get the final word.
01:35And that, my friends, is the real reason for rainbows.
01:41They remind us that God can put beauty above what once frightened us.
01:48Think about that.
01:49The clouds that carried the storm become the background for the promise.
01:54The same sky that looked dark becomes the place where color appears.
02:00The place that made you nervous becomes the place where God says,
02:07Look again.
02:08And maybe somebody needs that today.
02:12Maybe you have been through a storm that changed how you see everything.
02:18Maybe it was grief.
02:19Maybe betrayal.
02:21Maybe it was a season of fear, anxiety, disappointment, financial pressure, family tension, loneliness, or spiritual exhaustion.
02:34Maybe you're still trying to smile in public today, while privately wondering how much more your heart can take.
02:44And when people say, just have faith, now that can feel too simple, can't it?
02:52Because you do have faith.
02:54You are still praying.
02:57You are still trying.
02:59You're still getting up.
03:01You are still choosing not to quit.
03:04But that does not mean the storm did not hurt.
03:09And the rainbow?
03:11Well, it does not deny the rain.
03:15That is one of the most powerful things about it.
03:19A rainbow does not pretend the clouds were never there.
03:23It does not erase the thunder.
03:25It does not shame you for being afraid while the sky was dark.
03:30It simply appears afterward and says,
03:34God was still present, even here.
03:39And, you know, faith is not pretending life never gets hard.
03:44Faith is learning to see God's promise when life has been hard.
03:50And some of us are waiting for God to prove his love by preventing every storm.
03:57But sometimes, his love is revealed by keeping us through the storm,
04:03meeting us after the storm,
04:05and teaching us that the storm was not strong enough to cancel his covenant.
04:12The rainbow is not a sign that life will never rain again.
04:18It's a sign that God's mercy is greater than what the rain can destroy.
04:25And that matters because storms can be messy.
04:29And they can mess with your memory.
04:33Pain can make you forget that God has already done great things for you.
04:39Fear can make yesterday's blessing feel far away.
04:44Anxiety can make tomorrow look impossible.
04:48Disappointment can make you question whether God is still good.
04:54So God gives us a reminder.
04:57He gives reminders because he knows we are human.
05:01He knows we forget when we are tired.
05:04He knows we can be surrounded by evidence of his faithfulness and still feel alone.
05:11He knows how quickly one hard season can make us doubt ten answered prayers.
05:19So he puts signs in ordinary places.
05:23A sunrise.
05:25A kind word.
05:26A door that opens.
05:28A song that touches your heart.
05:31A scripture that finds you in the exact right moment.
05:37A quiet strength you did not think you had.
05:41And a rainbow in the sky after rain.
05:46Not because God needs to remember his promise, but because we do.
05:51When God set the rainbow in the clouds, he was not saying, I might forget unless I see this.
06:00God does not forget.
06:02He was giving humanity something visible to hold on to.
06:06He was placing mercy where people could see it.
06:11That's how kind our God is.
06:14He knows we need more than concepts sometimes.
06:18Sometimes we need reminders we can look at.
06:23And here's what I love.
06:25The rainbow is above us.
06:27You cannot grab it.
06:29You cannot control it.
06:31You cannot manufacture it with your own hands.
06:35You can only receive it.
06:37Just like God's grace.
06:40Mercy is not something you earn by being impressive.
06:50Mercy flows from the heart of God.
06:54The promise does not depend on your ability to hold the sky together.
06:59The promise depends on the one who made the sky.
07:04So, when you see a rainbow, do not just think about colors.
07:12Think about covenant.
07:15When you see a rainbow, think about a God who speaks after the storm.
07:21When you see a rainbow, think about a God who does not abandon creation to chaos.
07:28When you see a rainbow, think about a God who can take what looked ruined and begin again.
07:37Think about a God who knows how to place beauty where fear used to be.
07:44And then bring that truth down into your own life.
07:49That relationship that broke your heart, well, it does not get the final word.
07:55That season of depression does not get the final word.
08:00The failure you think about does not get the final word.
08:06That mistake you wish you could undo does not get the final word.
08:11That fear that wakes you up at night does not get the final word.
08:20God does.
08:23And his final word is not despair.
08:26His final word is not abandonment.
08:30His final word is not shame.
08:33His final word is mercy, restoration, resurrection, and promise.
08:41The rainbow points forward, too.
08:45Because every promise of God finds its deepest meaning in Jesus.
08:52And Jesus stepped into the storm of human sin, sorrow, violence, and death.
08:58He carried what we could not carry.
09:01He entered the darkness we could not defeat.
09:05On the cross, it looked like the sky had gone black.
09:10It looked like hope had been swallowed.
09:13It looked like the storm had won.
09:17But the resurrection, it tells us the truth.
09:22The storm did not win.
09:24Death did not win.
09:26Sin did not win.
09:29Shame did not win.
09:32Jesus rose.
09:34And because he rose,
09:36every storm in your life has to answer to a greater promise.
09:40That does not mean every wound heals overnight.
09:44It does not mean every question gets answered immediately.
09:48It does not mean you will never cry again.
09:52But it means you are not living under an empty sky.
09:58You are living under the promise of a faithful God.
10:02So maybe next time you see a rainbow,
10:06pause for a moment.
10:08Do not rush past it.
10:11And do not reduce it to something small or some person's agenda.
10:16Let it preach to you.
10:19Let it say,
10:21God still keeps his promises.
10:24Let it say,
10:26The storm is not the whole story.
10:29Let it say there is mercy above the clouds.
10:32Let it say that you are still held.
10:37And maybe even before you see one in the sky,
10:41believe the message of it in your heart.
10:45God has not forgotten you.
10:48He's given you a rainbow.
10:51The rain may have been real,
10:53but so is the promise.
10:56The clouds may have been heavy,
10:59but so is his mercy.
11:01The storm may have left marks,
11:04but it did not erase his love.
11:08That is the real reason for rainbows.
11:12They are not just beautiful.
11:15They are faithful.
11:16They are reminders from God that after the storm,
11:21his promise still stands.
11:25My name is Douglas Vandegraaff,
11:28and I believe in Jesus Christ.
11:31I also believe in the real reason for rainbows.
11:39God bless every single one of you.
11:43Bye-bye.
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