Gathering Your Rainbows

By Brittany Waggoner
Guest Columnist

CBN.com – You would think that now that I'm an actual adult (by a few months), I would be over my fascination with rainbows. As a kid, I remember dashing to my window with every rainstorm, hoping that I could see the sun through the clouds which would result in this natural beauty. To be honest, I still dash to the window. Rainbows are one of my favorite things in life, not only because of the spectacular sight of them, but also because of what they represent. Only through clouds and rain mixed with sun are rainbows made. This recipe holds true in real life as well. Through clouds of confusion and tears of pain mixed with faith in the Son of God, colorful rainbows of joy are made. Not all of our experiences are going to be difficult for us. Some experiences that God will use in our lives will be delightful, and we will enjoy passing on these stories of God's goodness, however often the experiences he uses most are the ones that hurt the most. But rest assure that each confusing or painful experience in our lives will one day produce a breath-taking rainbow of praise to God.

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn was that when something goes wrong in my life that there is always a purpose behind it and a chance to catch a rainbow. The Apostle Paul writes about this in II Corinthians 1:3-4, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble." Our disappointments and the lessons we have learned from them are meant to be shared with others.

One of the greatest lessons that God has ever taught me came through a lot of heartache and disappointment. Brent and I had dated on and off for years, and I can say without a doubt that I loved him. One inevitable day, Brent told me that he didn't want to be with me anymore. I thought that my love alone would convince him to stay. It didn't. For a while I couldn't understand why God would allow me to go through such pain. It was then that I looked up and saw one of the most beautiful rainbows that God has ever given me. We are called to be Christ-like, children of God. We can't do all the miracles that Christ could, but we can experience some of the same feelings that he did. In loving Brent completely and having him reject my love for no reason, I felt how Christ must feel. He gave his complete love to a world of sinners, but very few ever accept his love and salvation. Whenever I encourage someone who still loves a person who has rejected him or her, I reach into my bag of rainbows and splash color into their dark sky. May God grant us grace to see the lessons he has for us in each heart ache or disappointment we face.

Brittany Waggoner is a youth speaker and author of the new book, Prayers for When You're Mad, Sad, or Just Totally Confused. She is finishing her senior year at Cedarville University.