Rainbows and Razor wire

Branch: “You don’t know anything, Poppy, and I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you realize the world isn’t all cupcakes and rainbows, because it isn’t. Bad things happen, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

 Poppy: “I know it’s not all cupcakes and rainbows, but I’d rather go through life thinking that it mostly is instead of being like you. You don’t sing, you don’t dance, so grey all the time!”

What was the first thing you saw in the picture? The rainbow or the razor wire?

 There’s been times when joy would fill my heart like the excitement everytime I see a rainbow in the sky and then within an instant, I am reminded what still lingers... Death, disease, trauma, shame, hate, sin. It’s like the reminder that the rainbow comes only after the dreary rain. It’s like the devil is constantly trying to throw the sharp, dangerous, fearful razor wire into our vision when all we want to see is God and His majesty in the skies. 

We want to see cupcakes and rainbows but all we see is grey. We get blinded by the storms of life that we loose sight of the rainbow.

 Sometimes we're blinded by the world. Sometimes it’s hard to see the good when there is so much evil in front of us. And sometimes the devil wins. Sometimes I’m just grey, as Poppy told Branch in my girls’ favorite movie “Trolls”. Sometimes living inside a security wall topped with two rows of razor wire is heavy on my heart.

Sometimes negativity comes to mind before positivity. Bitterness comes out of my mouth instead of thankfulness. The devil’s lie’s flood my head instead of God’s promises. And sometimes as hard as I look, all I see is the razor wire without a rainbow in sight. 

But thank goodness for Jesus and his grace.Thank goodness that no amount of grey in my life can keep Jesus from sending the rainbow. Because when I fall into the razor wire entrapment of life and its lies, He is right there to lift me back up and remind me of the beauty found in and through Him. When my heart is ugly and my sin is great and my motives are wrong, I can still look around and see the blessings He has given me and feel His presence waiting patiently for me to get back up again. When I turn on the news  I see so much division. So much hate. So much destruction. 

So, I pray. I pray so hard that we don’t let the grey destroy us. I pray we can look beyond all the blood thirsty razor wires in life and see the rainbow. See the goodness in humanity. See the power of Jesus that is alive and well and active today. Keep your eyes focused on HIM. Don’t dwell on the issues in front of you. Don’t let the grey pull you down. Look beyond them and see Jesus. Look for Jesus in everything. No matter how dark it is, he’s still here.

 By keeping our focus on things from heaven and not the things of this world, that joy comes back. It comes back tenfold and floods your heart and mind and spirit and even though the world is falling apart, you can still see the good. The great. The beauty.

 With Jesus, the rainbow will always come.