Genesis 9:12-15 God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life.  

In an Irish folktale, we meet a leprechaun, the legendary solitary fairy shoemaker. He supposedly mended the fairies’ shoes and saved the money he earned in a clay pot full of gold.

He buried the pot, of course, where no one would ever find it. He jokingly said that he hid the gold at the end of the rainbow. Because a rainbow has no end, the treasure would always remain out of reach.

Some versions stipulate that a captured leprechaun must grant three wishes. Yet, every time, he cleverly evades his captor, and the treasure vanishes with him.

The point of this Irish story is simple. You can never pin down the treasure, because the end of the rainbow always moves just a little further out of reach, so that you can never get your hands on it.

But God’s rainbow is just the opposite. It is not an illusion or something perpetually out of reach. It is a visible sign of a covenant. A reminder that God keeps His promise. When we stand in the rain, feet in the mud, seeing a rainbow, we should know that it is God’s way of saying, “I remember. I will never flood the earth again.”

And it is not just a sign for us. God Himself says that the rainbow reminds Him of the promise He made. This is who He is, a God who keeps His promises one by one.

Maybe there is thunder in your life today. Maybe it is storming. Then it is time to look up, see the rainbow, and say out loud, “Lord, You remember”. And if the clouds do not want to go away, keep holding on, because the God of the covenant holds you, even if you only see grey.

Prayer
Father, thank you for every promise You give us. Thank you for making it happen, even today, in the lives of all your children. Help me see it too …

Questions
Where last did you see God’s rainbow covenant?
What thunderclouds are hiding God’s promises from you?
How do you remind yourself today, “Lord, do you remember?”

Now do this
Look up when it rains and remind yourself that God’s promises still stand, even when all you see are clouds.
Write down one promise from God that you need to hold on to right now and pray it out loud over your life.
Share hope with someone who is struggling. Send them a message that says: God remembers. Be a piece of rainbow for someone today.