The following post is by Carolyn Noble:
I love a rainbow or anything bright in the sky for that matter. It reminds me of how life is bigger than myself and that God is real, out there, if we only look up from the dailiness of life. When my kids were young, I remember pointing out many a rainbow, sunset or moon that captured the sky. With every rainbow I would say “Look kids! A rainbow. That’s God’s way of showing us that God keeps his promises. God answers prayers.” I would often remind them of the story of Noah and how God put a rainbow in the sky to remind them that He keeps His promise of provision and protection.
Sunday, September 13, 2015, was much like that for me. Noah’s rainbow was such a long time ago, yet the truth is still real today. God allowed me to have a glimpse of His realness. I am still amazed today. Sunday was Vision Sunday for Northstar Church. I am on the team that organized a prayer walk on the new church land that would happen after both church services. Jeff had prepared all week to speak to the congregation about what was ahead for Northstar Church. Purchasing ten acres of land, hiring a fund raising campaign company, designing a building and looking at the expensive ticket price of over $5,000,000 can be a bit overwhelming for a lowly church leader. But this leader was not just my pastor, he was my husband. So I felt the weight that he was unintentionally carrying.
I was on my way to the new land before church on Sunday. I needed to hang up the posters on the boards we had stationed for the prayer walk. When I made it to University City Boulevard intersection on Prices Fork Road, I saw a rainbow off in the distance. I texted a photo of it to Jeff flippantly telling him that it looked like there was a rainbow on the church land. I kept my eye on the rainbow the whole way there. Once I got to the land, I could not pull my car in fast enough. My heart was racing as to what I saw. I fumbled with my phone to take a photo. I had to capture what I saw for some might not believe it. There was rainbow, a big beautiful rainbow on the church land. Literally, on the church land. The trees on the property line in the distance were in the shadow of the rainbow, doused in the bright colors. It was simply amazing.
My thoughts since Sunday are still the same. God is real, God answers prayers and God keeps His promises. The most amazing part of this whole experience is what Corie Carr said when I told the Vision Team about the rainbow. She said “I think that is why I love God. He doesn’t have to give us those little nuggets of assurance that He is walking with us… But He does anyway because He loves us more.” God lavishly showed me and the whole Northstar congreation on Sunday that He loves us, He hears our prayers and He will provide.
[…] It’s still hard to believe. One end of a rainbow touching down on our church land on the Sunday that we were setting up to have an after-church fellowship on the land?! It wasn’t hard to perceive God’s smile and encouragement to our church family about our future. [For more about the rainbow] […]
[…] As we left the Member Meeting Wednesday night, it was raining. It cooled off a hot day here in Blacksburg. It wasn’t long, however, that members began texting me pictures. Pictures of rainbows. In scripture, a rainbow indicates God’s promise, and our church had already had an amazing experience with a rainbow. […]