I love rainbows! Doesn’t everybody? As children, didn’t we always make a rainbow the finishing touch on our crayon drawings? (My grand-niece, Susana, drew the picture above with the otter in the ocean. I love it!) When there’s a rainbow in the sky, we take notice! I live in Southern California, where we can get excited by something as ordinary as a realistic anticipation of rain after months without a drop. But when there is a rainbow painted across the sky’s canvass, it brings joy! Rainbows offer a welcome interruption to what may have started out as a typical day. In fact, rainbows have been known to cause drivers to pull over to the side of the road so they can gaze at the beauty and even take pictures. Busy office workers have headed to windows from their cubicles in order to catch a glimpse of a rainbow before the beauty dissipates.  Mommies have perched toddlers on their hips and pointed to the beautiful rainbow in the sky, their own excitement inadvertently teaching their children that rainbows are wonderful, they’re beautiful, they’re a fun surprise, and they make us happy! Don’t you think that all of the excitement rainbows bring is a reflection of the joy that was in God’s heart when He hung his first rainbow in the sky? 

Lately I’ve been thinking about the colors of the rainbow. God, the creator of rainbows, has a brilliant mind, as magnificent as the universe He balances on his finger. So given that He knows the end from the beginning, I truly believe God had purpose in choosing which colors He would display in his rainbows, and if anyone cared to ponder about it, He would speak to us about those colors. So I accepted His invitation to ponder them:

RED makes me think of the blood of Christ. He gave His life so that I might live. His sacrificed blood provided for forgiveness for my sin. Without His blood, overcoming the enemy of our soul would be impossible.  Hebrews 9:22. Isaiah 1:18. Revelation 12:11

ORANGE makes this California girl think about the poppies that cover hundreds of our west coast acres each spring. At the height of the season poppy fields can look ablaze with color. Jesus used His Father’s extravagant design when “clothing” mere flowers to teach us how much more His Father will care for our needs. Matthew 6:29-30

YELLOW has been my favorite color ever since I was a tiny girl who loved her “lellow” dress. Yellow makes me think of the sun, created by God and placed in the heavens to provide light and warmth for us, as well as, with its pull of gravity, to keep our galaxy’s planets from going rogue. The magnificence of the heavens has always declared God’s glory to mankind, (Psalm 19:1-6). How can we help but respond in praise to Him, whose glory is above the heavens! (Psalm 113:3-4)

GREEN speaks to me of life! I live in the “high desert”, so for most of the year, our hills are brown. But when God blesses us with early spring rains, they become beautifully green with life! God is capable of restoring life to any part of our hopelessly parched souls. Scripture is full of verses that describe God’s capability of redeeming anything and anyone that is humbly offered to Him. He even gives beauty for ashes! Isaiah 61:3  Genesis 50:15-21  2 Corinthians 5:17

BLUE is the color of the sky, which so often pulls my thoughts toward  God and Heaven. God’s throne is in heaven, the earth is His footstool! Isaiah 66:1 Jesus said that He would go and prepare a place for us in His Father’s house. John 14:2-4 One day we will go beyond the beautiful blue sky to Heaven, and be amazed at what we see there! 

INDIGO is the color of the deep dark sea that Jonah was tossed into and swallowed by a fish when he ran from God. (God delivered him!) King David described how whether he was in heaven or hell, or even in the depths of the sea, God was with him, leading him, and holding him. Psalm 139:7-10 Though indigo seems like a dark color, which could symbolize troubling times, it’s presence in rainbows reminds me of Psalm 23 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me! Your rod and staff comfort me! 

VIOLET is final color of the rainbow. Often when violet and purple are mentioned in scripture it’s in the context of creating cloth for God’s tabernacle, garments for priests who served in God’s temple. Royal garments were often purple. Violet is a beautiful reminder to us that those who have been washed clean by Jesus’ blood have been made Kings and Priests in His kingdom!  Revelation 1:5-6 

God gave Noah a rainbow as a sign of His promise: that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. Years later, Isaiah wrote that God was establishing a covenant of blessing for His people, and that His love for them would never diminish. 

“Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Isaiah  54:9-10 NLT

Heavenly Father, You designed rainbows to remind us of Your faithfulness, Your eternal love for us, and the hope-filled future You have for us—both on earth, and with You one day in Heaven. You could have given Noah a million other kinds of signs, but I think You determined to give us a beautiful sign, one that would always bring delight. So the next time You place a rainbow in the sky, will You remind me to ponder what its colors can convey? Because as long as I live, Lord, I want to think of rainbows as “I love you’s”, written as colorful notes across the sky by my loving Heavenly Father.