A rainbow is God’s promise that things will be good again after storms.  In a darkened world, God told Noah to build an ark so that He could start the world over without the sinners who had so blackened His creation.  After Noah built the ark and the world was cleansed of its sins, God sent a rainbow so that all who loved Him would know His awesome love and forgiveness.

That story happened many years ago in the Bible, but its message is still true today.  With God, even in our most dire situations, He gives us His Only Begotten Son so that we might know a love far surpassing anything of man.  We are not perfect, but in God, we are one family, His children.

I often wonder why we are so mean to each other, why we have let Satan’s forces overwhelm our sense of right and wrong, why so many of us refuse to put God at the center of our relationships, and why many people relegate people with disabilities or a multitude of differences to the back of the line instead of lovingly placing them at the head of the line.  Didn’t Jesus Christ say, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last?”  When we see a person, regardless of age, color, race, religion, or creed, in trouble, do you not reach out to help them?  If you saw a child crying out in pain, would you not want to comfort them as though they were your own child?  Why has helping others become so foreign to most people?  Have we lost so much of our empathy and caring that we do not see what’s going on in our own homes, in our communities, and in our country?

I can’t speak for any other American; I can only speak for my own behaviors.  Right now, I am so fearful for what is happening all around our country that my level of trust has almost completely disappeared.  I know I must trust God and let the things of man move in the direction they must.  Is the direction our country is moving in only the result of a psychotic president or have the seeds of rebellion been growing for years in the back- woods areas, needing only the words of one of Satan’s crusaders to flourish in the minds of the disenfranchised?  Perhaps we need another flood to cleanse America of its pain, fear, hatred, and divisions.

There is a saying that says, “into every life must come some rain,” and I’ve had my share of storms.  I pray that God will send us a rainbow soon because we need the simplicity and beauty of its colors to move us forward towards Christ’s light and His enduring grace, hope, and love.  My faith in God has brought me through many storms and times of indecision, but it’s my trust in what God can do with these times that has truly allowed me to see His rainbows of possibility.   Resounding in my heart and mind is this quote: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6: 33-KJV)  To whomever is reading this in America, please see His rainbows and let peace reign once again in the land we all love.  May we seek God’s kingdom first before the things of man.

Anna Hartt