Devotional Reading: Genesis 9: 8-17

Text: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (v. 13)

The story of Noah, the Ark and the Rainbow is a story often told to children but its profundity has often been ignored or forgotten.

When God brought order out of the chaos at the Creation, the Almighty declared the Creation “good”. But things soon went bad; Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the fratricide of Able, the Tower of Babel, “the sons of God” impregnating “the daughters of Eve”, corruption and violence spiraled out of control nearly sending God’s good Creation back into chaos like grass braking disintegrating a sidewalk that hasn’t been maintained.

Finally God had enough. He vowed to wipe the slate clean like a child shakes an “Etch and Sketch”. But then the Almighty had second thoughts. God decided to save a remnant. It seems that God always leaves a remnant.

And then God did something totally unexpected and even unprecedented. God declared a unilateral peace treaty with all of the Creation.

In this story we are reminded that retribution never wins a human heart or anything else. In the end, only Love wins.

The story of the Rainbow moves us from retribution to forgiveness, and from frustration to patience.

Lord, as you set the Bow in the sky and thus declared a truce with all of Your Creation, show me how to be as wise. Amen.