Sunshine and Showers

A variegated sky above a variegated landscape – one shades of grey and one shades of green. And then – a rainbow.

What a lovely reminder that God’s promises are always true. That he is a faithful God. That he does what he says he will do. That he loved the whole world so much that he was willing to pay the ultimate price to ransom it from the grasp of evil.

Not that you would know it, looking at the state the world is in right now. But that’s where it helps so much to know in the very centre of your being that God’s promises are always true. That’s where it helps to know what his promises are.  We are so blessed to live in a free country where there is a wealth of Bible translations, all available in paper or even on line.

Back to the variegated sky though. I noticed this afternoon that while I was busy with something, it started to rain in the front of the house. I was busy and couldn’t rush straight out the back to bring the sheets in off the lines, but when I did go – after the shower had passed – I discovered the sheets were dry as a bone. It hadn’t rained at the back of the house.

Localised weather. Sunshine and showers. How often when we are standing in a deluge of trouble, it is easy to assume the trouble is universal. When we are enjoying happy times, we also may presume that most other people are similarly blessed.

But we are variegated people, and the Lord uses those standing in the sunshine to encourage those standing in the showers. They may be as close as your neighbour. We need to be alert, full of compassion and eager to extend a helping hand or hug.

I love the line from an old hymn: I trace the rainbow through the rain. May you trace the rainbow through somebody else’s rain today. Or if you're in the rain, I pray that someone will trace a rainbow through it for you.