Covenant

Isn't it good to know the worst is over? Isn't it assuring to hear the promise that it's downhill from here on out? It's why the story of God's covenant with Noah is told over and over again, starting in the early years of Sunday school. God is good, we teach the kids. Look at how God made a covenant to Noah, promising to never flood the earth again. It was like God said, "The worst is over," and here's a rainbow to prove it.

"When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh" (Genesis 9:14, NRSV).

I want to know that the worst is over. And unlike Noah, God's probably not going to give me a sign and a promise that whatever I dealt with six months ago, whatever my best friend or brother went through last week, whatever--that was the worst of it. A rainbow still just means that the storm is over, that God will never flood the earth again, and I'm left unsure about whether or not I'll ever have to experience as much pain as I did that one time, during that one season.

And that sucks. Because when you endure your own version of Noah's flood, you want to believe that that was the worst, and you can't imagine there could be anything worse. We yearn for a promise from God the way Noah probably would have had God not provided the rainbow. Instead, we have turn to God's grace. We have to trust that no matter the darkness we experience, God will extend grace--to us and to anyone that contributed to that darkness. And while that may not feel good like a rainbow, it's still a constant and in its own way, a promise.