Years ago on a flight out of West Palm Beach, Florida, I sat next to a 12 year old boy who was traveling alone, had his face pressed against the window, and was sobbing. Without asking questions, I put my arm around him, prayed quietly, and then learned his parents were divorced; he had been visiting his father in Florida and--against his will--was returning to his mother in the north. His heart was totally broken. I assured him of God’s help, that through the power of the Holy Spirit he could wonderfully survive every disappointment in life, and someday have a happy home of his own. He did not have to make the mistakes his parents made.
For a few minutes he sat silently, face against the glass, staring out the window. After we became airborne over the ocean, he suddenly grabbed my arm and half-yelled, "Look out there! Look!" I turned to the window and saw one of the most magnificent sights of my life. Reaching down to the surface of the ocean--and rising overhead as far as we could see--was the full, unbroken circle of a rainbow. The color was indescribably brilliant with the lower part of the ring seeming to float on the surface of the water a mile below. There was not a gap in it--just the breathtaking view of a glowing Heavenly Crown of colorful light. When I asked the child if he understood the Biblical meaning of the rainbow, he rightly answered that God gave it as His promised “sign of covenant,” never again to destroy the world by water. Genesis 9:13.
I had learned a short time before that the complete rainbow, like a wedding band, is a continuous ring. It is much, much more than the mere half-circle we see from ground-level. To behold the bow's full circumference it is necessary to be above the earth looking down. That is the only reason we could see it from the plane. The same bow from ground-level would have been only half of our view. There is a vital spiritual message in that fact: From our present position on earth, we grasp only a fragment of the wisdom and strategy of God’s covenant-plan for our lives. God is not the cause of divorces, tragedies, and family disasters; instead, He is our only reliable rescue from them. Part of that rescue begins when we start viewing life from His perspective. Ephesians 1:3,20. Changing our perception from earth’s to Heaven’s is one of the great works of the Holy Spirit. As the “Comforter,” He helps us see adverse situations as they actually are--not the “half bow” as they appear. We must then help conform them to His will. This is what I impressed on the boy: God’s plan for his life was “good, acceptable, and perfect.” Romans 12:2. It was also necessary that he become involved with that ideal plan and help enforce it. Even then, it will not be until we are in Heaven looking back at the completed role of history--and our own involvement in it--that we will we be able to understand His total plan and purpose for us. It is only from above that the total bow comes into view.
