Certain lessons seem to be particularly important for me to “get” because they are being reinforced almost weekly. Last week an exclamation point was made on the lesson – “It may not be what you expect, but trust Me, My plan is better!”
We visited our two married daughters over the course of last week. Rhiannon and Jeff in Chattanooga Thursday – Sunday morning and then Christin and Michael in Elizabethton Sunday – Tuesday. Everything went pretty much like we planned with Rhiannon and Jeff, but it seemed like every plan we made with Christin had to be scrapped or modified heavily. No worries, we were just happy to be spending time together.
Monday afternoon one modified plan had us drive to the top of Roan Mountain where we enjoyed some beautiful views from the bald mountain top. The wonderful 360 degree view had us thinking about sunrise pics over the NC mountains. Checking the weather in Elizabethton, 20 miles away we saw that the weather report was promising and the plan was hatched.
Tuesday morning we arose at 4:45 am and we were headed out of town 15 minutes later. We were excited to see a star studded sky as we rolled out of Elizabethton heading toward Roan Mountain. Two miles from the top of the mountain was when I first noticed the moisture on the road. A mile from the top I noticed the stiff breeze that hadn’t been present on any of our drive thus far. Shortly thereafter wisps of cloud started sweeping across in front of the car and for the last 200 yards I had to drive at a snail’s pace into the parking lot because of the thick fog.
We were still an hour before sunrise. I am quite used to fog. But fog is usually stationary settling into the low areas on windless mornings. On the mountaintop it was foggy with a 15 – 20 mph breeze driving it. Undeterred we gathered camera, tri-pod, flashlights and goody bag and headed up the 3/4 mile hike to the top of the mountain in a cold, drizzly, windy fog hoping for the best.
This is about 15 minutes before sunrise and we were beginning to think the sun may not actually burn through the fog like we were hoping.
This is when you kinda wished you hadn’t been told about the number of bear sightings up on the mountain.
Inside the woods the wind was blocked and it was eerily peaceful.
That breeze that we experienced in the Parking Lot was a foretaste and not the real deal. We broke out of the woods about half way to the top and realized that the exposed mountain bald seemed to increase the wind intensity by at least a factor of two.
We made it to the top of the mountain, thankful that we had also been there the day before so we recognized some rock outcroppings as landmarks. We hunkered down behind a rock for a bit hoping the clouds would clear and we would get some sunrise shots. But while the clouds around us brightened as sunrise arrived the wind didn’t let up and the fog never thinned.
The view right at sunrise… at least according to our watch.
Since we had been to the mountain the day before, we knew that amazing panoramic views existed from right where we were huddled. Yet the wind, fog, and rain made it difficult to remember just how beautiful it was. I was struck with how graphic an illustration that is of the impact of trials in our life. When life is good it’s easy to see God’s hand at work. But when trials press upon us it often becomes much harder to discern God’s actions on our behalf. It is in these times that our faith is stretched. Holding onto the reality that we have previously experienced – God’s faithful provision, is just like remembering the mountain view we had seen the day before. We may not see it at the moment, but we know it exists. Our task is to remember and wait for the reality to be revealed again.
We slowly made our way back down to the car and then headed back down the mountain. A deer came up beside us on the road and we slowed to let it pass. A mile down the road we were out of the fog.
As we progressed down the mountain we saw sunshine followed by a brief rain shower. The thought passed through my mind, “Sun and rain, I wonder if there’s a rainbow somewhere?” Through a break in the trees just prior to the final overlook I could see a shower in the valley beside the mountain and a slight brightening where the sun was trying to break through. As we rounded the curve at the final overlook this is the view that we saw.
We were shocked by how quickly this rainbow appeared.
The colors were vibrant and yet it was continually shifting from a single to a double and from a full to a partial rainbow.
For a few seconds it formed a full rainbow… and we just happened to be in the right spot to catch it in all it’s glory.
We couldn’t quite tell if the pot of gold was in that little barn or the orchard beside it. What we knew for a certainty was that our Heavenly Father was enjoying our laughter and celebration with us as we alternately uttered words of praise and gasps of wonder while we snapped pics.
The double rainbow was fleeting, but we saw it come and go two or three times in then 3 – 5 minutes the rainbow was visible.
Looking toward the sun… and giving praise to the Son.
The final pic as the shower ceased and the rainbow quickly faded.
The entire rainbow celebration lasted less than 5 minutes, but a number of things stood out to me.
- We had to make the journey to be able to see the rainbow. We didn’t know the rainbow was the purpose and penultimate pic of the trip, but our Father did.
- We tarried in the dark, in the rain, in the wind, in the fog, and ultimately made close to a 2 mile hike seemingly in a lost cause, but God had a better plan.
- We had to be in exactly the right spot AND at exactly the right time to see and enjoy the rainbow like we did. If we had rushed at any point in the morning’s journey we would have missed it.
- Our response to seeing the rainbow was pure wonder, celebration, and thankfulness to our gracious heavenly Father for this simple, but beautiful blessing. And I believe He enjoyed it as much as we did.
Finally I remember where God first introduced the rainbow to His creation. It’s in Genesis chapter 9:12-17. And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
We didn’t get what we expected, but what we got was so much better.
And that’s just the way God is with His children.
Be blessed today and be a blessing! If you like this, please share it with a friend.
One of the thrills of my Mount Rainier trip was all the wildlife that I got to see and capture in my pics. I shared a few stories already on Facebook, but now I have the pics that go with those stories.
