The Rainbow

A Lenten Series on the number 40!
Noah: 40 days and nights of rain
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 6:5-22; 9:8-17 

[Historically, Lent is a 40‑day period of preparation leading up to Easter. It involves reflection, repentance and readiness for the resurrection. Ultimately, it leads us to transformation. The number 40 is significant in the Bible as it is associated with multiple stories of preparation and testing. In this Lenten series, we will be looking at various Biblical stories that revolve around the number 40, and how that applies to us.]

  

During the fall of 2025, my wife and I took a trip to Maine to visit Acadia National Park. The scenery was beautiful, although the weather didn’t cooperate. We went up on Cadillac Mountain to see the sunset. Instead, the wind was howling and blowing so hard that I had to brace myself or be blown over.

 

Even though we couldn’t see the sunset on Cadillac Mountain, the next evening we did see it while driving around the park. Although it rained all day, as a result, we were treated not only to a beautiful sunset, but also to a rainbow.

 

There’s a lot that we can learn about God from the story of Noah. First, God hates sin! At the time of Noah, the world was flooded with wickedness. It was to the point that the Lord even regretted he had ever created humanity. If you’ve ever regretted something, you might be able to relate to how God felt.

 

⁶ So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. NLT

 

Therefore, God came to a decision. A decision on how to correct what he regretted.

 

⁷ And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.”    NLT

 

Thankfully, the story didn’t end there. Despite the fact that since creation humanity has repeatedly sinned, God has repeatedly provided a way to be reconciled. This is the second thing that we learn about the Lord. He loves us so much that time and again he has provided a pathway back to him. In this case, Noah was the path.

 

⁹ Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.            NIV

 

The Lord told Noah his plans to destroy all of his creation by sending a flood. There would be forty days and forty nights of torrential downpour. But before that, Noah was to build an ark. He, his wife, his sons and their wives, and two of every animal would be safe in the ark.

 

Despite the fact that there was no body of water nearby, Noah did what God told him. You can imagine that people ridiculed him for building an ark so far from water. You can also imagine that Noah felt discouraged at times during the project.

 

Anyone who has worked on a building project knows the feeling. Murphy’s Law – “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” – was undoubtedly in play. Despite taking decades to build the ark, Noah persisted trusting God to be faithful.

 

After the flood, when the ground had dried, God made a covenant with Noah to never destroy his creation again. As a sign of this covenant, he gave Noah the rainbow. The same rainbow that we saw in Acadia.

 

What a wonderful reminder of God’s love, forgiveness and faithfulness.

 

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”  NIV

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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Murphy's Law

Romans 5:1-5

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205%3A1-5&version=NIV;NLT

  

When I was first married, we had a small leak in our half bath downstairs. When I tried to repair it, instead of tightening the pipes, I disconnected them. Do you know how small those pipes are? And do you know what small pipes do to water pressure? Water shot out of there so hard and fast that pieces of toilet paper were blasted onto the ceiling.

 

That was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law which is, “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. Yup! Been there, done that!

 

My co-worker recently had a streak of bad luck. First her stove died and they went for weeks before the replacement arrived. Then one of their cars was making some weird noises. Several hundred dollars later, the noise was gone. Finally, the dish washer started leaking and had to be replaced. Have you ever heard of the saying, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all”? Been there, done that!

 

Adversity, affliction, problems, struggles, suffering, issues, trials, temptations, testing, or troubles - whatever you want to call them; we’ve all experienced them. But Paul and James suggest dealing with them in a highly unusual way.

 

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.    NLT

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.      James 1 NIV

 

To respond to adversity with rejoicing or pure joy seems not only counterintuitive, but ridiculous. Why would you do such a thing? I’m glad you asked.

 

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.   NIV

 

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.         Romans 8 NLT

This is not to say that adversity isn’t hard, because it is. But even in adversity, we can know that God is with us; He is working in our life to draw us closer to Him; and that He loves us no matter what happens.

 

 

That, my friend, is cause to rejoice.