Thankfully Thursday - Promises

As a child I often heard Mom ask something of Dad. When he did not perform the requested task and "promised" to do it at some future time, Mom's response was "Promises, promises, promises.."
Dad would also ask Mom for certain things, like cherry pie for example. She might respond that she would make it for him on the upcoming week end and he would in turn say "Promises, promises, promises..."

There are some promises which are sacred and are truly promises. They are meant to be kept and never broken. God made a promise to Noah in Genesis 9:8-16 that He would never destroy the world again by flood. As a reminder of His promise we have the rainbow.

While listening to a pilot's testimony on Family Life radio, I was surprised to learn that rainbows are formed in circles. The actual rainbow has no beginning and no end and flows continually, as a promise should. It does not have an ending date, like an expiration. It is similar to our wedding rings representing a continuous link of love between man and wife. A rainbow represents a timeless promise and a continuous love.

I found a profound poem written by John Keats. In "Lamia" the poet Keats laments the science of rainbows feeling that rainbows are not something science should be trying to explain away:

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
Unweave a rainbow

Rather than worrying about how a rainbow comes about, I rely on God's word and know that He is the source. I appreciate that His promises can be trusted, and do not have to understand the colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and then violet. Is the sequence of colors important, or the fact that God does not lie and we can trust His promise?

"I solemnly promise you and your children and the animals you brought with you - and these birds and cattle and wild animals-that I will never again send another flood to destroy the earth. And I seal this promise with this sign; I have placed my rainbow in the clouds as a sign of my promise until the end of time..."

The beauty of His words and His sign are something to remind us of His love and the meaning of giving a promise.

Stay well and God bless.

picture sources: rainbow, wedding bands