“I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.” –Genesis 9:13-15
A covenant is a promise, and God was talking about a rainbow. This was one of the first promises God made to us in the Bible. Before this promise was recorded, God had wiped out the entire earth and all living creatures by flood—with the exception of the passengers (both people and animals) on the ark that God instructed Noah to build before the flood. Once the flood was over, which took about a year, Noah and his passengers arrived safely to dry land.
One promise is not higher or more significant than another. God promised to never take the earth by flood again, and He meant it. Just as He means all of the other thousands of promises in the Bible.
It’s pretty cool that God left us with a visible reminder of His promises.
The Bible is full of stories of people who went through incredibly tough times. They are stories of what happened when people listened to God’s instruction, followed Him, and looked to Him for direction and wisdom. A lot of those same stories are full of breakthroughs, miracles, and redemption. They are testimonies of what the supernatural power of God looks like.
You know what these ordinary people relied on during their trials and incredibly tough times?
God’s promises.
You know what Jesus said to Satan when He was tempted for 40 days in the desert after He was baptized?
“It is written.”
Even Jesus used the word of God as His battle weapon. God does not break His promises. It’s a firm foundation of truth and faithfulness.
The more you invest in your relationship with God, by spending time with Him and reading His word, the more you discover the strength and comfort that can only be found by resting in His promises. I remember when I first picked up a Bible. It was about nine years ago, and I was in a very dark place in my life. I remember saying:
“God, I don’t really know how to pray. Don’t you already know what I’m thinking anyways?? You should already know what I need. I don’t really understand what I’m reading, but here we are, so I’m gonna give this a shot.”
Gradually, things started to make a little sense. I started to connect the dots. I wasn’t always faithful in spending time with God, but I kept working at it. As time went on, I would stray from God for a while and then come back to Him. Then, the time gaps between myself and time spent with God began to get shorter and shorter. I began to realize how much I was starting to rely on God’s promises in the Bible. I started to realize how much I needed those affirmations of unconditional love and comfort and I realized how much I needed those promises to give me strength and endurance through my seasons of tough times.
The more I pressed into Him, the more He revealed Himself to me. More importantly, He showed me who I am in Him. I was able to have better discernment of that quiet voice. He spoke to me in ways that can’t be explained, only felt. I started falling in love with God. As I fell more in love with God, I fell more in love with myself. I was able to love myself more because I invested in the truth—that God gave me boundless grace to pay my way into heaven, and it was also enough grace for me to forgive myself for being a victim to a broken, corrupt world. It was a type of grace that convicted me, rather than condemned me.
A relationship with God is a raw, beautiful experience. Once you get a taste of it, it's something you desire for everyone to experience. A relationship with God is something that everyone needs. After all, that is His ultimate priority for our lives.
We all have the same access to God. I’m writing this to you because everything God revealed to me as a result of an investment of time into a relationship with Him, is the same thing He freely gives to anyone else. It is something everyone is so capable of receiving. God gives everyone the same unmerited favor. God’s grace never comes with stipulations or discrimination.
Once you start pursuing Him, you’ll realize He’s been pursuing you all along.
As I’m writing this, I flipped my Bible open to a random page, and the first verse I saw was one that I had highlighted. It says, “For every one of God’s promises is ‘Yes’ in Him.” –2 Corinthians 1:20
God promises to give you strength.
God promises to give you peace.
God promises to give you hope.
God promises to never leave you.
God promises to always love you.
God promises to give you wisdom.
God promises to give you eternal life.
Every promise is a ‘yes’ in Him.
You can take those promises to the bank. You can direct deposit them in your heart! God has made us thousands of promises, but they are promises that you must claim in order to receive.
Sometimes, when I am going through a tough season, I like to pick a verse and claim it. It’s a verse that I hold tight to and remind myself of. I remind myself that it’s a promise that is true, and if it something that I believe, then it is definitely a ‘yes’ in Him. Write it on your bathroom mirror, or save it as your lock screen on your phone.
His promises are those to lean on and live by. You can claim them like your life depends on it. The verses throughout Scripture contain so much power if you believe in the promise it holds. To reiterate, you have to claim His promises in order to receive them. Claiming a verse helps to give us hope, but it also helps to shape our perspective and learn about the character of Jesus.
God says to seek Him and you will find Him; to knock and the door will be opened. That’s a promise too.
My hope and prayer for you is that this encourages you to not only lean on God’s promises, but claim them over your life. I challenge you to open your heart and exercise that faith muscle that all of us have. The more you exercise that muscle, the stronger it gets. That’s how faith works, because faith is not found, it is built.
You will be surprised what God will show you if you allow Him into your heart and spend time with Him. He is desperately after your heart.
From now on, let the rainbow be a reminder that just as God took care of Noah, God will take care of you too—and He always will. The proof is in the promise.
Love and Light,
Stephanie Jo