The rainbow and God's promise

During one rainy day, I was walking through a natural history museum with a friend. As we looked at the various fossils and models of extinct animals, we got to talking about the Biblical Flood -- whether these animals were wiped out in the flood, became extinct afterwards, or whatnot. We talked about whether the earth was relatively young (about 6000 years old, according to some scholars) or 4.5 billion years old, as most scientists claim. It was a light-hearted yet interesting discussion about matters of God's creation.

On her way home, my friend called me up and said, "Guess what? As I was driving home, I saw a rainbow in the sky! Isn't that interesting? We were just talking about the flood, and now here's a rainbow right in front of me."

That got me thinking... How do most of us respond when we see a rainbow after a storm? The rainbow, after all, is a symbol of God's grace. It's a reminder that God will never again judge the earth in the same manner that he did with the flood. (Genesis 8:21, 9:8-17). I must confess, though... This almost never comes to mind when I see these colorful ribbons of light in the sky. Perhaps I need to remind myself of this promise more, as well as the sheer magnitude of God's grace.