{"id":23945,"date":"2020-03-24T10:34:12","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T14:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=23945"},"modified":"2020-05-13T15:31:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T19:31:52","slug":"pastors-ponderings-gods-faithfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=23945","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Ponderings: God’s Faithfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Jim emailed the below message on 3\/24\/20 (during the midst of the Coronavirus crisis)…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Greetings Friends:<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

PLEASE READ:\u00a0Genesis 9:16-17<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

(And God said,) “Whenever the rainbow\u00a0appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant\u00a0between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.\u201d \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So God said to Noah, \u201cThis is the sign of the covenant\u00a0I have established between me and all life on the earth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

One day last week I was out for my morning walk and I saw something which really caught my eye. Someone had drawn an amazing image \"\"on a block of sidewalk with chalk. This scene featured a few puffy clouds, the sun, and a rainbow. Under this scene were these words, “After every storm\u00a0comes a rainbow<\/span><\/strong><\/em>.”\u00a0 I was encouraged by this and it was a ray of hope I needed after having been watching the morning news while eating my breakfast. As I continued my walk I said a prayer of thanks for whomever created that outdoor work of art. As I continued my walk I began thinking about that art work and recalled a story from childhood involving a rainbow which I hope will be a message of hope for all of us today.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"

Pastor Jim<\/p><\/div>\n

Many years ago as a small boy when our family was living in Florida, one particular day began bright and sunny, but muggy which is quite understandable for Florida. The weatherperson predicted the possibility of thunderstorms, but when you looked outside, it was hard to believe it would actually happen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Around 3:00 in the afternoon things began to change quickly and dramatically. The air was very warm and humid. The sky in the West was turning dark and menacing. Huge dark clouds were rolling in and soon the sun was totally blocked out by the approaching storm.\u00a0 Suddenly the clouds burst and huge drops of rain began to fall. Lightening flashed through the South Florida skies and the house seemed to vibrate with each crash of thunder. The rain was so heavy you couldn\u2019t see across the field of orange trees to the road. <\/span><\/p>\n

After a few moments there was a loud “crack” and the power to the house went off. We sat without electricity waiting for the storm to pass over, which to this young kid seemed endless, making me very nervous. <\/span><\/p>\n

Little by little the flashes of lightening stopped, the loud booms of thunder were barely audible and the rain began to let up. After a few more minutes the clouds starting parting and the sun came out, its rays glistening in the light rain that still fell. My Dad said, “Look! Over the other side of the yard. Do you see it?”\u00a0 Sure enough, there it was, a rainbow. We all went outside, standing in the drizzle to see it better. \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

As we watched the rainbow its colors became brighter and brighter. It was a beautiful sight! <\/span>My Dad said, “It’s just like what Noah saw right after the flood.\u00a0 God kept His promise to Noah and He has kept it to us”!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

I recall a sense of well being flooding over me. Even in my young mind I was confident that everything was going to be alright now. We had God\u2019s promise, the storm was over, and the rainbow was the reminder of God’s faithfulness and God’s promises.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

\nYou probably have a similar story tucked away somewhere in your memories which you could tell. To this day I look for a rainbow whenever it is raining and the sun is shining. There is a sense of comfort just in seeing it. After the storm passes, there it is, that beautiful arch across the sky. It seems to have no beginning, no end. It just hangs beautiful and silent, yet it’s message screams loudly that God is faithful and God always keeps His promises!<\/p>\n

I am so grateful for the person or persons who created that work of art done in sidewalk chalk. It reminded me that like it was for Noah, as it was for me as a boy in Florida, just like it is for you and me today, the rainbow will forever be a sign of hope.\u00a0The rainbow is a promise, a reminder of God’s promises\u00a0to humanity.\u00a0 Promises which will never be broken, promises which will last forever! Look for the rainbows, they are out there!<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nShalom,<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pastor Jim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/p>\n

For additional Pastor’s Ponderings, click this button:\u00a0\u00a0 Pastor’s Ponderings<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lightning might be crashing, the wind might be howling, and the rain may be pouring in torrents, but a rainbow will come (even if figuratively). Our Prince of Peace is faithful to His promise. Pastor Jim sent out these words of hope in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis…. “After every storm comes a rainbow.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[167,183],"class_list":["post-23945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-godsfaithfulness","tag-godspeace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23945"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23957,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23945\/revisions\/23957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}