Never had I longed for a rainbow so much. It had been raining nonstop for twelve consecutive days, and I could already imagine how Noah and his family felt inside the ark. I was concerned about the small pumpkin, turmeric, and apple mint plants outside. It’s a miracle they survived.
Stories about landslides, swollen rivers, injuries, and deaths were all over the news. I went to bed every night, hoping for a brighter tomorrow, but woke up to gray skies and puddles outside.
Finally, midway through the thirteenth day, the sun came out.
Playing the waiting game
For Noah and his family, it took a little longer. It took seven days inside the ark before it started raining, and it took forty days and forty nights for it to stop. But it wasn’t just that. After the rain stopped, they still had to wait one hundred and fifty days (almost five months) for the water to go down. But there’s still more: before all that took place, Noah preached for over a hundred years.
When God gave Noah a mission, He didn’t tell him how long it would take to complete. Nevertheless, Noah was diligent. He prepared, preached, built, and believed whether or not he saw signs of rain.
When God gives you a mission, you will most likely face difficulties along the road. Sometimes, you must wait inside the ark for the rain to fall. Other times, you must wait inside the ark for the rain to stop.
Either way, you can be sure of one thing: His rainbow awaits you on the other side.
Getting in the ark
When God decided to destroy the earth with the flood, He did so because of the amount of evil in the world. However, He didn’t do it without providing a means for salvation and a chance to repent to all who were willing to accept it.
Only eight people made it inside the ark. Noah and his family were the only ones who accepted salvation, at least on time.
The meaning of the rainbow
After the flood, the earth wasn’t the same geographically or climatically. Rain was to become a natural part of the human experience. So, God did something special. He promised Noah that He wouldn’t destroy the earth with water again, and as a reminder, He left the rainbow.
Coming soon
The God who put the rainbow in the sky as a reminder of His promises is the same God who is coming back again for you and me. Are you willing to accept His gift of salvation?
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. – Genesis 9:13
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