Faithful

We had some much-needed Spring rain last week -- we get so little here that it's quite a novelty. But a few days ago the clouds parted, and after one glimpse of the sky I grabbed my camera and headed down the road to get a better view. It was the warmest day we've had this year, and the feel of sun on my skin was glorious. I only wish I could capture the beauty of the sky!

Some of the distant ranges are still snow-capped, which makes me quite happy:

The yellow-headed blackbirds are returning with other feathered friends, and after a silent winter I'd forgotten how beautiful birdsong can be. It's time to refill the feeder -- hopefully "Emma" the German Shepherd won't frighten them all away!

As I stood by the side of the road, soaking up the sunshine, I happened to look up and see a rainbow -- just a tiny strip of color directly above me. When I looked up a few minutes later, it had already disappeared.

It was a gift, a timely and gentle reminder of God's faithfulness. That very morning I'd been reflecting that images of rainbows now bring me more pain than joy after losing three "rainbow babies" in quick succession. But God ordained the rainbow as a promise to never again destroy all life on earth with a flood, vividly displaying His compassion and His value for the life He has created. My hopes of ever having another baby have dimmed with each loss, but my hope in the One Who keeps His promises has deepened. Rainbows should still bring me joy, because they symbolize more than a baby born after loss (which is a blessing, not a promise) -- each one is a reminder that God still honors a covenant He made with Noah thousands of years ago. More than that, He sent His precious Son to the cross to keep a promise made to covenant-breakers. Every promise He's made to me, He will keep.


What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-39