And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:12-13 ESV

A few years ago, a group from our church made a trip to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. When they returned, they were full of more stories of their time together than about the Ark. At first, I laughed about that, but then I thought how fitting that was because even if one day someone actually finds the original structure of the ark it really wouldn’t change a thing. Believers would still believe, and unbelievers would still doubt. What matters most is our faith, not some historical artifact.

But the Bible says that God did leave us something even greater than Noah’s Ark to visit. He left a sign of His faithfulness in the clouds that everyone can see, and we call it the rainbow. Everyone over the age of five has seen at least one rainbow, though few know who put it there. God left us this beautiful though fleeting sign of His eternal love and kindness, yet most will see it and still not believe in Him. Now, it is a great experience to go to the Ark Encounter, and I highly recommend it as a trip well worth taking. But more important than visiting the ark and more foundational to our faith it to look up in the sky after a storm and thank God for the rainbow. The only traveling we need to do, is from unbelief to faith, from fear to blessed assurance, because the rainbow is God’s eternal sign to everyone who believes of His great faithfulness and love!