Picture this: It’s lightly raining. I’m standing in the middle of a walmart parking lot, iphone out, trying to capture a video of the vision that is in front of me, water uncontrollably leaking from eyes.
Thank God I was at Walmart, where on the scale of crazy, I just blended right in.
To back up the story a bit, just five minutes before this parking lot melt down, I had been in my kitchen excitedly learning how to use my new Kitchen Aid Spiralizer attachment (this is not an ad). We make zoodles often in our home and, while I love them, I abhor the process. I had upgraded from the small hand tool to the clumsy plastic counter gadget and still despised the cranking process. This Kitchen Aid attachment had been a long time coming, and I have to tell you– worth every (on-sale-plus-a-20%-coupon) penny. Unfortunately, two zucchinis into the process, I realized amidst my spiralizing glee, I was in fact not spiralizing zucchini, but rather cucumbers.
Insert major eye roll.
I was ticked. My attitude changed from sheer spiralizing bliss to ultimate rage. I don’t know why that kind of thing has so much control over me, but it happens on a consistent basis. I go to the grocery store, get home, start cooking dinner, only to realize I bought the wrong thing or forgot a main ingredient. The simple task of going back to the store for one more thing, sends me over the edge. Anyone else? It’s easily in my top three pet peeves.
Anyway, I pull out of my drive way like Mario Andretti and race off to Walmart to redeem my evening of spiralizing. And then I saw it.
Now, before you start rolling your eyes at me, listen. I am not your typical “double rainbow” kind of girl. Normally, I see a rainbow and think, “cool.” (Cool in my family is like the kinder way of saying huh. Like I really don’t care, but I’m going to respond positively to you because you seem to care.) I’m also not an overspiritualizer. Sure, I see God’s hand in a lot of things, but I’m not one to make everything a spiritual moment.
Well, guys. This rainbow was a spiritual moment. Within a block from my house, I begin to see the biggest, fattest, most vibrant rainbow I have ever seen in my life.
And I lost it. Like ugly girl crying, lost it.
My first thought was, “Thank God I bought cucumbers on accident!” Literally. What had been the greatest annoyance of my day, immediately flipped to an opportunity. I actually felt gratitude for the stupid mistake I had made, because I knew I wouldn’t have seen the rainbow if had I bought zucchini on my first grocery store run.
(Don’t eye roll yet!)
Back to the Walmart parking lot. My eyes are uncontrollably leaking and I’m standing in the rain just so overwhelmed.
We know the rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise to Noah to never destroy all living creatures as He had done in the flood. (Gen 8:21) And while that is a pretty giant and incredible promise, it doesn’t overwhelm me in the way it probably should.
However, what the rainbow reminded me of in that moment is that God has promised us so many things that are for our good.
But He never promised it would be easy.
Sure, He promised Noah to never destroy all living creatures again, but you think living though that flood was easy? You think re-cultivating the land, re-populating the earth, you think that was easy?
God also made some huge promises to Abraham. To give him a son in his old age, after decades of infertilty. A son that would turn into nations. A son that would create a lineage that leads to the Messiah, which would in turn bless all nations. But Abraham’s life? Far from easy.
He made incomprehensible promises to Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, the Prophets, the Jews, Mary, His apostles, the early church, and through all of those stories—He made unfathomable promises to you and me.
But He never promised it would be easy.
In our day, American Christianity has taken a turn to ease. If God loves us, if He is for us, then life should be easy. We should be comfortable. We should have the things we want. A husband, children, money, a job that makes us feel fulfilled.
God’s promise of goodness has been bastardized into the American dream. Success, wealth, fulfillment, comfort. Yet, He has not promised us any of those things. At least, not in a worldly sense.
Your life and mine, it will certainly not be easy. It will be filled with hardship, grief, heartache, loss, disappointment and more.
It will be hard. But it can also be good.
Because that is the Lord’s promise to you and me. His nature is good—perfect, unending, never-failing goodness.
He promised to make you a new creation when you placed your faith in Him and submitted to His authority in your life. (2 Cor 5:17)
He promised to create good things for you to do on this earth. (Ephesians 2:10)
He promised to finish the good work He started in you. (Phil 1:6)
He promised to work all things for your good and His glory. (Romans 8:28)
He promised to be faithful to you. He will never leave you. (Matthew 28:20)
He promises to sustain you. (Psalm 55:22)
Those, and so many more, are His promises to you. And if we believe them, really truly believe them, they are so much better than a promise of ease.
