RAINBOWS AND LIGHTNING

Who can gaze upon the natural lights of nature’s wonder and not be moved deep down with some form of awe and amazement. The other day after a rainstorm I saw a double rainbow and at the same time the one rainbow stretch in a giant arc from one horizon to the other. It was spectacular. Within a few minutes it was gone.

Lightning also can be truly impressive, not to mention scary. And so often it flashes with the explosion of thunder to add to the anxiety.

I can’t imagine anyone being too afraid of a rainbow. It simply doesn’t to me convey that kind of power or image. However it does have with it a certain mystical side with the fables about finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Since rainbows are the result of special weather related phenomena and you could never really reach the end of a rainbow it might make a good legend, but we know it could never be reality.

Lightning on the other hand is the type of real that even though it doesn’t happen every day, we know there will always be some danger when we hear the thunder and see the flashes of light. Perhaps it is because of the dangerous element that we don’t have the same legends associated with it as with rainbows.

On a spiritual level to me rainbows are the dazzle for the eyes when we experience some truly moving moment with the Lord. But like a rainbow, often they are visual for our edification, but not to be regarded as having another value. It can be some event that the Holy Spirit touches us for a specific reason and we see something far truer than ever before. When we have that moment it has served its purpose. It wasn’t intended to be a lifestyle. Some get so addicted to this kind of dazzle that they are always chasing spiritual rainbows and looking for that next fix of eye candy where they seem something supernatural occur, which is not the purpose.

The Apostle Paul dealt with that in part in terms of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some had abused them others became corrupted by pride. In both cases they missed the real meaning of their rainbow quality. It isn’t that spiritual gifts lack a lightning quality too. But the difference to me is when we see only the colors of that expression in terms of its false of expression and never appreciate it as a intended to increase our faith.

I hope I’m not being too vague. But what I’m talking about is seeing light with the help of God’s spirit and not seeing the revelation or truth it is intended to communicate. Only seeing wonders and not the God who creates them might stir, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to trusting him more.

With lightning we understand that it only happens during a storm. Thus in the case of spiritual lightning it is something where God demonstrates his power, but always during a crisis. So it is more powerful on the senses, yet more traumatic in terms of the circumstances when it happens.

In either case, to see the glory and miss the message is to be deprived of the inward value that can bring insight even healing at times. I pray we never lose the desire to look for what lies beyond the light and clouds when seeking the Lord.