Rainbows

There is something about sunglasses that I don’t like, especially those ones with the mirrors that reflect your own image in the two little spots where the eyes of the person you are talking to are supposed to be. You have to talk to two little pictures of yourself! Mirrored sunglasses not withstanding, I still like to look into the eyes of the person I am talking to.

       I do, however, like to wear my sunglasses. Not necessarily when talking to people, but definitely when I am driving in our old truck with window tinting. Let me explain. Several days ago, on the ride home from the bus stop, (in the above mentioned truck) I suddenly called out to my daughter, “Hey, Esther, do you see that?” She, (probably like you at this point) thought I was a little strange. And, no, I am not seeing visions in the sky now or anything like that. What I did see (and what Esther did later, too, when looking through my glasses with sunglasses attached) was the most beautiful spectrum of color I have ever seen. It was somewhat like a rainbow, but the color swatches were bigger, bolder, wider, richer and so much more vibrant than I have ever seen. It was heavy on the blue, purple, green, and light on the yellow. The red was only a mist. Right now all the scientists reading this know what is going on with this, but there must be some combination of the window tinting and sunglasses that separates the light just so, into this spectrum of color. It is awesome, and each time I ride in that truck, I have to gaze out the side window at the beauty and wonder of the colors (except when I am the one behind the wheel, of course). 

       A scripture comes to mind that helps me to understand why that spectrum of color is so captivating. Revelation 4:3 says that there is a rainbow around the throne of God. There is a rainbow around the place where God lives and is worshipped. The rainbow is distinctly a God thing. In Genesis we see that when God made the covenant with Noah and his descendents, that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood, He established the sign of that covenant as the rainbow. The rainbow was the sign of God’s covenant, and the rainbow is what surrounds His throne. In verse 13 of Genesis chapter 9, God refers to the rainbow as “My bow”. Almost reminds me of a signature.

       No wonder we are drawn to the rainbow or the spectrum of color that we see broken down with a prism. It is God’s. Humanity has that God-shaped hole that we long to have filled, so that even those who have not accepted His adoption yet, still long for the things of God to grace their lives. I think that is what draws everyone to the beauty of the rainbow- the longing for God and His signature, the longing for His Life-giving force in our own lives. Have you ever noticed that Scripture always describes God as being extremely bright light and the angels as being surrounded by bright light? When light is broken down and separated (like through a prism) it is separated into the colors we see in a rainbow.  Indulge my imagination here, but can you just picture the intense light of God Himself being seen through the diamonds that would be part of a throne? No wonder there is a rainbow around His throne! No wonder we are in awe of the colors and appearance of the rainbow in the sky or the color spectrum. It is the signature of our Creator and King.

I’ll try not to run anyone off the road next time I’m in the old Dodge truck, but I can’t help it- I’m drawn to the bow of my King. If that spectrum of color is only a glimpse of the rainbow that surrounds the throne of God, forever doesn’t seem like very long. And that prospect makes me lonesome for home.