Just as a rainbow lights up a cloud on a rainy day, so its brightness shone all around. This was how the form of the Lord’s glory appeared. When I saw it, I fell on my face. I heard the sound of someone speaking. — Ezekiel 1:28
One of the things I discovered about Scotland is that it’s difficult not to bump into a rainbow. Sometimes they’re faint, sometimes radiant, and sometimes doubled. Regardless, they get your attention and make your jaw drop a bit.
Rainbows are found in the Bible in three places. Genesis 9, with Noah; Revelation 4 and 10, with thrones and angels; and Ezekiel 1, with God. What they all have in common is that they interrupt the ordinary with the extraordinary. Whatever you’re going through is put on hold. Beauty grabs you. You’re transported into a creation that is entwined and infused with the Spirit.
Rainbows remind us that beauty happens anywhere, anytime. When have you encountered a rainbow, in the sky on in the person next to you? When have you been a rainbow to someone?
Regardless of when or where they’re found, they show us that HOPE always has the last word.