The Storm before the Rainbow
The Bible is full of real-life examples of children of God who had very difficult times in their lives that were followed by times of great blessings and joy that were even greater than the hard times that preceded them. That is the way life is for many of God's people today. There is a storm of trouble before the rainbow of blessings.
In addition to real life examples, there are also many passages of Scripture that teach this principle of evil (or bad) before the good. In this message I want us to consider four points on this subject from the Word of God.
Genesis 9:13-14 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
The Genesis flood was the very first storm that this world had ever seen, and it destroyed all life on the earth except for Noah and his family, and of course all the animals that were with him on the ark. We couldn't even begin to imagine all the toils and troubles that Noah went through. The wickedness of man was great in the earth. The earth was corrupt, and violence filled the land. Needless to say it was an extremely dangerous place to live!
In the meantime, God was preparing to destroy the earth because of their wicked sins. Noah was given the monumental task of building an ark to save life on the earth when God's judgment fell on the world. I can't imagine how Noah was able to build such a huge vessel that was capable of housing all those thousands of animals, and all the provisions to sustain them for a full year while they were on the ark. Of course, with God’s help all things are possible!
Then the rain came! And it pounded the earth with sheets of torrential rain that was non-stop for forty days and nights. The earth was totally devastated and inundated with water, and all life on earth was utterly destroyed, except for Noah and his crew that was with him on the ark!
After a full year (371 days) of existing on the ark, Noah was instructed by the Lord to come down off the ark and reinhabit the earth. By this time God had dried out the earth and prepared it once again for life. We have no idea what the world must have looked like after the flood, but I'm sure to Noah and his family, it looked beautiful!
After that, God revealed His rainbow as a sign of His covenant with mankind and every living thing, that He wouldn't destroy the world with water ever again. Now, beloved, Noah's life was a most extreme example of the storm before the rainbow! We're never going to go through what Noah went through - not by a long shot!
Yet many storms come into our lives. Many metaphoric storms. We might not see any way through the clouds and the downpours of troubles and trials, but then suddenly the storm stops, and the floods of trouble cease, and God sends a rainbow of His mercy, love, and grace into our lives! We come off of our ark, so to speak, and see the flowers of grace blooming all around, and the sun shining in the cloudless sky and we wonder… "What happened?”. The dark hopeless nights turn to bright joyful days. Well, that's the way God works in our lives sometimes. We don't always understand how or why, but we just thank God for His mercies, love, and grace to us weak, helpless, and unworthy sinners!
Psalm 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
We spend a lot of long nights praying and weeping over things that come in our lives. Life is full of sorrows and heart aches. Sickness, disease, family problems, money problems, everything coming apart at the seams, as it were! Thus the saying “when it rains it pours!” Sometimes things seem so hopeless that we all but give up on ever seeing the light of day.
But when we're just about to lose all hope, the light of day appears! The Lord sends us a miracle of His love and grace, and turns our circumstances around. And then what joy fills our hearts in knowing that Jesus loves and cares for us, and that He answers our prayers! Yes, beloved, there is a rainbow after the storms of life!
We also see that this is a cycle in life, of evil followed by good. Notice…
Ecclesiastes 3:3-4 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
There is a time for all kinds of circumstances in life. That's all a part of God’s sovereign providence. But always remember, dear children of God, after death comes healing, after breaking down comes building up, after weeping comes laughter, and after mourning comes dancing, or we might say, happiness!
The bad will eventually come to an end, and the good will follow! I know that the dark and dismal times sometimes seem like they will never end (remember Job), but they will sooner or later, and there will be that rainbow after the storm, at least until the next storm hits!
Now I want to consider some spiritual applications of “the storm before the rainbow”. The first of these will be that repentance comes before faith…
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Beloved, repentance always precedes saving faith. Repentance is a change of mind toward God, but it is more than that. Repentance is the realization of sin in our hearts and lives. Repentance brings contrition and sorrow over our sins, and the horrible fear of God's judgment because of our sins! Repentance brings a dark cloud over your life when you are under conviction of your sins. You won't see any hope for your soul, but only judgment and wrath!
But there is good news! True repentance from God is always followed by saving faith in Jesus. Saving faith comes by hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus. Saving faith beholds Jesus on the cross, dying there for your sins, and paying your sin debt, so that you can be forgiven of your sins against God, and have eternal life with Jesus in heaven.
Repentance is unpleasant to the soul at the time, but salvation by faith in Jesus is the most pleasant, and most joyful of all rainbows at the end of the storm! It is the beautiful promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Jesus!
4. Fourthly, and finally, we want to consider that death comes before life…
The Scriptures teach that there must be death before life. I want to see some examples.
Hebrews 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus had to die before there could be victory over death. But Jesus won the victory over death, hell, and the grave when He died on the cross and rose again from the dead on that third day! And having won the victory over sin and death for His people, He is set down at the right hand of the throne of God!
Beloved, Jesus’s victory is also our victory! Because Jesus defeated sin, death, hell and the grave, we also will have victory through Him!
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
There must be the death of Jesus before there could be reconciliation between sinners and God. Therefore, because of His death, we shall be saved by His life!
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Men are born spiritually dead. By nature we have no spiritual life in us. But by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus we are made spiritually alive in Him!
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Baptism pictures our death to sin and resurrection to walk in newness of life. When Jesus saves us, we die to our sins and our old sinful way of life, and we are spiritually raised to walk in a new life for Christ. There is a big change that takes place in our lives when we are saved! It's like being raised from death to life!
Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Part of taking up our cross and following Jesus is our dying to self and to our own wills. We are to do this so that we can manifest the life of Jesus in our lives. We need to empty ourselves of ourselves, so that we can be like Jesus and serve others.
There must be the death of the body before there can be a resurrection…
1 Samuel 2:6 The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Although the child of God dies and sleeps in the dust for thousands of years, yet will we have the victory over death when our Saviour comes again! “The dead in Christ shall rise first”! “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”!!!
Revelation 2:8-11 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
There is a martyr's crown for those who suffer death for Jesus’s sake and the gospel's. That is a special crown, and a special blessing that many millions of Christians, especially Baptists, will receive in that day!
But we are all called upon to be faithful unto death. That is our best evidence that we really are Christians! And the promise of Jesus to those who overcome is that we won't be hurt by the second death, which is eternal death in the lake of fire! Beloved, if we truly are the children of God by faith in Jesus, then we will overcome!
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So then, we've seen that the “storms” of death will precede the rainbows of new life in Jesus that follow.
In conclusion, there are a lot of bad things that happen in life, and dark and difficult times, and painful and fearful times. We think of these things as evil, which in a sense they are.
But we also need to realize that God has a purpose for all these things, and that in the end there is always a rainbow. Good will always come in the end to the children of God.
But I should also point out that, for some of God’s people, the good might not come until after we die. That doesn't give us much encouragement when we think that things might not get better in this life. But, beloved, that is where patience (endurance) and contentment come in.
One thing that will help us through those long, protracted times of trials, is to take comfort in God's Word. That is one of the important purposes of God's Word in our lives. Along these lines, Romans 8 comes to mind once again…
Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
We also spoke about the spiritual storms and rainbows, and how there must be death before life. We saw seven of these…
- The death of Christ before victory…
- The death of Christ before salvation and life…
- Spiritual death before spiritual life…
- Death to sin before rising to newness of life…
- Death to self to a life of following Christ…
- Physical death before the resurrection…
- And death for Christ before a crown of life…
And this seems to be the cycle of life for a child of God. And I must say that in my experience as a believer, the good far outweighs the bad. And best of all, in the end is an eternal rainbow… a rainbow circled throne in that eternal abode of the saints of God with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
For the unsaved there is also a life filled with storms, but the rainbows are only superficial and short lived, because there is no true joy and happiness in this world. And worst of all, at the end of life there is no rainbow, but rather the storm of all storms, which is the second death in the lake of fire.
I pray God will send you repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that you, too, can have the rainbows of God's blessings now and in the life to come!