After rain, there is a rainbow.
After a storm, there is calm.
After night, there is morning.
And after the end, there is a new beginning
– Unknown
Storms can be very intense. The wind howls and whips around. Rain pounds on the roof and floods the ground. Lightning cracks across the sky and thunder loudly answers back. When the storm ends, there can be immense damage. Sometimes there is flooding, fallen trees, or damage to structures and vehicles.
The storms in life can also be very intense. Relationships don’t go the way we hoped. Jobs don’t work out. Loved ones get sick and pass away. The storms life brings can sometimes leave us feeling devastated.
In the midst of the storm, it’s difficult to imagine the storm coming to an end. It’s so easy to lose hope as the storm is raging around you. I’ve been in that place – in despair because the storm seemed never ending. However, each storm does eventually come to an end.
Genesis 6-9 talks about the storm of all storms. Imagine this with me for a second. The entire earth was flooded. It rained nonstop for 40 days and 40 nights. When the storm finally ended, things didn’t go right back to normal. I always imagined it did, but that’s not what happened at all. It took 150 days before the top of the tallest mountain could be seen above the water. It is estimated that it took 1 full year before there was dry land again. After the ground dried up, it took time for the plants to grow again. It took time for the animals to multiply. It took time to get back to normal. However, after the flood, God made a covenant with the earth to never flood it again. The rainbow is the reminder of that covenant.
A rainbow does not mean the storm never happened. There can be destruction all around and yet, the rainbow shines above. It’s God’s promise. It symbolizes hope. It symbolizes the start of healing.
It might seem odd, but for me, “healing” has been so difficult. It constantly feels like 1 step forward and 2 steps back. My negative thoughts are still there. I still feel like a failure at times. I wanted my life to all be put together. I thought I would be “healed” by now. Afterall, it’s been almost 2 years since the last time I saw Keller. The storm of that period of my life is over, but I’m still dealing with all of the effects of that storm. Rainbows for me have manifested in the small victories – being able to identify some of my negative thoughts before they cause my thoughts to spiral out of control, realizing that life with Keller would never live up to the fantasy I had created in my head, and making strides to get back to where I want to be professionally by finding a job that allows me to support others who have intense journeys of healing still ahead of them. Sometimes the rainbows are just glimmers that healing is happening no matter how slowly.
I’ve experienced a few storms in my life and it’s been difficult to hold out hope for the rainbow at the end. But God doesn’t leave us to weather the storm without Him. He’s there in the midst of it and He will be there at the end as well. Don’t lose hope.
Love,
Redeemed Mama