by Susan Fleming
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant…”
Genesis 9:12-15
“Look, Julia,” George pointed. “Look at that rainbow!” Scooping her up in his arms, he threw over his shoulder, “We’re off to find the end of the rainbow!”
The old Dodge van bounced across the field that served as our front yard and disappeared down the dirt road in a cloud of red dust. I knew they would be back in an hour or so, the excitement of ‘almost’ and ‘surely next time’ crowding out the disappointment of not finding the end of the rainbow and the promised pot of gold.
And so it went, on through childhood and adolescence, Julia and George always off chasing a rainbow of one sort or another. The secret rainbow bond grew, slowly excluding everybody else, even me. I longed for a close relationship with my only daughter, but no matter how fervently I prayed, we seemed to grow further apart.
Years passed. George chased his rainbows right out of our marriage, and Julia seemed to follow once more in his footsteps. Life turned into a soap opera, and I clung to God’s faithfulness, certain it would win out in the end.
One day recently, Julia and her two young girls were out with me when the weather turned bad. We drove out of heavy rain into sunshine several times that characteristically Florida afternoon while Julia and the girls kept an eye out for rainbows. Their efforts were rewarded with an amazingly beautiful double rainbow off to the east.
As we approached a curve along a wooded stretch of the road we saw an incredible sight. The rainbow we had been watching arced down and touched the ground right in front of us! The rain had stopped, but a light mist seemed to hang in the air, shimmering in the light of the rainbow. I slowed to a crawl as we approached, wanting to savor the sight as long as possible, sure that as we reached the spot, it would fade away like a mirage. Surprisingly, the colors seemed to brighten as we drew nearer, finally shattering silently, engulfing us in a bejillion sparkling mist drops. We drove right through the end of the rainbow!
My granddaughters were wide-eyed in wonder. Julia, tears streaming down her face, could only say, “Oh my goodness… the end of the rainbow!” And she said it many times.
It was surreal enough that we wondered if reality had somehow been altered. And for us, perhaps it has been. We shared the end of the rainbow, something she and her dad had been chasing unsuccessfully for many years. In a very real way, it has redefined our relationship.
Was there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? For me, there was something far better. God, my faithful God, once again used His rainbow to bring the promise of restoration. There is perhaps nothing that could have tied up so many loose ends and knit our hearts together the way that did. He is indeed faithful from generation to generation.
For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100:5
Tags: covenant, end of the rainbow
Very powerful story. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you, Melinda. I’m glad you liked it.
It is safe to say that you had a “defining” moment that day! Thank you so much for your transparency. I loved your testimony! Blessings!
Wow, great story.
Thank you for this beautiful story, I am weeping tears of joy and gratitude as I read it, God spoke to me in a very powerful way with a beautiful rainbow many years ago. To lengthy to tell the story here but thank you for sharing this and reminding me what an Awesome God we serve.
@Bethany — I’m glad you liked it. Julia asked about you the other day!
@Maria — definitely a defining moment!
@Trina — He’s been using those rainbows to speak to us for a long time! I don’t think my writing has ever brought anybody to tears before (except maybe my English teacher!). Thanks for sharing.
Wow, Susan, that is an awesome illustration of the power of God, thank you for this story of Him at work in your life and your most special relationship with your daughter. You are a beautiful writer and woman of God.
Thank you, Beth — He is amazing. Sometimes He gives us these “defining moments,” as Maria said, but what I love is that I can see Him at work in a thousand smaller ways every day, and that is, in itself, defining. Have a blessed day!