Noah and the rainbow, a bedtime story

For a long, long time, Noah and his family had lived inside a big boat called the ark. The animals were in there with them: big ones and small ones, birds and cows and creeping things.

Inside the ark there had been the sound of rain on the roof, day after day, and the animals shuffling and snuffling in their places. Noah and his family looked after them all, and the ark floated on the water.

Outside, the rain had fallen and fallen. But now the rain had stopped. The water had gone down, little by little, and the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And one day the ground was dry.

God told Noah it was time to come out. So Noah came out of the ark with his wife, and his sons, and his sons’ wives. And all the animals came out too, family by family, stepping onto the land.

Imagine the fresh air after so long inside. The smell of the wet earth. The birds flying up into the open sky. The animals stretching their legs on the ground.

Then God spoke to Noah and his sons. He blessed them. And he made them a promise.

God said he would never again send a flood to cover the whole earth. Never. And the promise was for Noah, and for Noah’s children, and their children, and all the families that came after them. It was for every living creature too: every bird, every cow, every wild animal on the earth.

Then God gave them a sign, so they would always know the promise was true. He said, I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

A covenant is a very big promise, the kind that lasts and lasts.

So whenever clouds gather over the earth, and the rain falls, and then the sun shines through, a rainbow may appear. That is God’s sign of his promise.

And here is the most wonderful part. God said that when the rainbow is in the cloud, he will look at it, and he will remember. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant.

God does not forget any of his promises, ever.

So every rainbow after the rain is a little reminder in the sky. God made a promise, and God keeps it.

Tonight, maybe it is raining outside your window, and you can hear it on the roof. Or maybe the sky is clear and full of stars. Either way, God remembers his promise. And God remembers you.

The rain will stop. The clouds will drift away. In the morning the sun will come up again. Listen to how quiet it is. Breathe in slowly, and out slowly. The ark is resting on the dry ground, the animals are settling down to sleep, and you can sleep too. So snuggle down, close your eyes, and rest. God keeps his promises all night long.