February 2

“When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds” — Gen 9:14

So always, too, in spiritual life, whenever a cloud is in the sky–the rainbow appears on the cloud, the rainbow of divine promise, of God’s love and grace. We are accustomed to say that every cloud has a silver lining, and the saying is true. In other words, every dark providence has a bright, shining side. As God sees it, there is a blessing in it. It is not always true that we can see the rainbow on the cloud; sometimes we can see only gloom and shadow. But faith can always be sure of good in every trial, in every sorrow, in every loss, even when the natural eye cannot see it. “We know that all things work together for good–to those who love God.”

Someday we shall know that many of our best blessings have come to us out of our sorrows. In the Book of Revelation we are told that there is a rainbow about the throne of God and the Lamb in heaven, which would seem to be a suggestion that God’s covenant is not for earth only–but also reaches forward into the blessed life beyond. Perhaps our richest blessings in heaven–will be from earth’s sorrows!