God’s Rainbow in the Sky a sign of God’s Love

Monday, January 9th 2023

As I drive to pick up my rambunctious 5 year old son from preschool, I notice a brand new memorial site on the side of the road. I see a few teenagers there paying their respects. It was obvious there had been a recent car accident. It reminds me that someone had mentioned an accident to me at church on Sunday, but I didn’t hear many details. I am currently a youth leader, the Young Women’s President, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and many of my youth attend this High School. As I pass by my eyes start to well up in grief at the tender sight of the friends gathered there, and the loss of a precious youth.

As I continue down the road on this dreary day, all of a sudden I feel the warm rays of the Sun BREAK through the clouds onto my face. It was so sudden it shocked me.

I sense the spirit of the moment. So I pay attention. Almost immediately there is another sudden opening in the clouds with beautiful rays of sunlight pouring out of it. It looks as if Jesus is going to come down from the sky any minute! I thought this was such a sweet tender balm of mercy from God for my crying eyes. So I pull over to get a picture of it. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The beauty of the sparkling rays of sun, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was beyond a mere picture.

I get back on the road and continue my journey to pick up my son. As I pull up to the stoplight the sky darkens, the clouds suddenly close back up again, and it begins to pour rain. I snap a picture very quickly.

I begin to wonder at all of this. What if a rainbow appeared right at the site of the memorial?

I arrive at my destination a minute later and pick up my son and his cousin. We get in the car and head back the same way we came. We are headed back towards the memorial site of this teenager that I know nothing about. However, I can feel God’s love for him and all of his precious children on the Earth. I can feel it in my bones that a rainbow is going to appear. I’m watching the sky fervently out the corner of my eye as I drive. I know that if its going to appear it has to happen within a few minutes before we enter the wooded tunnel, and it must be on the left side of the road where the accident took place. (to know that it is a sure sign of love from God) We get nearer to the heavily wooded section, but still no rainbow. But at the last minute, sure enough, there on the correct side of the road I witness a BEAUTIFUL rainbow materialize just in the nick of time! Once again, the picture does NOT do it justice. Please believe my testimony that it was GLORIOUS. As the rain poured down I could feel the spirit of the Lord Pouring into my heart and mind how much he loved this mystery teenager that I knew no details of. And in that moment I knew that the rainbow siting was for more than just me. This is a story that needs to be shared.

As I’m posting this picture in this instant, I realize that this rainbow looks JUST like the cover picture of my VERY recent post about God’s Rainbow Covenant path . To me the rainbow is not just a phenomenon of nature, but an eternal monument to God’s covenant of love. Both have rainbows arching over a path or road.

As I get closer to the memorial site I pull over to tell the friends mourning there about the rainbow and God’s love. They share all the details with me about who he was: an amazing young man and Senior. He was a great friend and amazing fellow teammate on the high school baseball team. He was someone that everyone liked and had many friends.

And then, as I push the ignition button to drive home the song “Pour Your Spirit Out” comes on.

Here is a small sampling of the lyrics:

Just like Lazarus out of that grave
Our God re-writes history
Jesus You change ev’rything
When You pour Your Spirit out
Just like Silas singing with Paul
Praise can break down prison walls
Jesus You can have it all
Won’t You pour Your Spirit out

I found out after writing this that his death was a suicide so its doubly heart breaking. However, there is good news from the perspective of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We do not believe that suicide victims “Just go to hell” as some may claim. God’s mercy is greater than we can imagine. Here is how we look at it:

Most people who have thought about suicide do not want to die; they simply want to find relief from the physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual pain they are going through. Even righteous people like Paul have “despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8) when they felt weighed down and in deep distress (see also Numbers 11:14–15; 1 Kings 19:4; Jeremiah 20:14; Philippians 1:21–24). Nevertheless, in times of trouble, like Nephi and Alma they “[knew] in whom [they] trusted” as they found that “God hath been [their] support” in “trials and troubles of every kind” (see 2 Nephi 4:19–20; Alma 36:27).

Although it is wrong to take one’s own life, a person who does so may not be responsible for his or her actions. Only God can fully understand and judge the situation. Elder M. Russell Ballard said:

“Obviously, we do not know the full circumstances surrounding every suicide. Only the Lord knows all the details, and he it is who will judge our actions here on earth.

“When he does judge us, I feel he will take all things into consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received, the traditions of our fathers, our health, and so forth” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/suicide?lang=eng

A few other times I have witnessed this phenomenon:

1. A close friend and ER nurse who provided critical care for people aboard the Life Flight helicopters in Seattle. (I heard the story at the indoor service) Life Flight flew a helicopter in her memory and a rainbow appeared. 2. The Queen of England (I saw the iconic pictures)

You are a third rainbow witness.

Because of Jesus Christ we all WILL live again.