A Brillian Rainbow Appears

Catholic Pope Benedict XVI went to visit a Nazi concentration camp site today, remembering the victims of Holocaust when Jewish people were targeted to be wiped out from the face of the earth in Germany -- as many as 1.5 million people died, most of them Jews. As a German himself, Benedict mourned for the horror, knelt down and prayed: "Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?"

Over this weekend, more than 5000 (and rising) died in an earthquake in Indonesia. My heart trembles at this news!

Why the horrors, why the disasters;
Why the pain, why the sorrow;
Why the injustice, why the wicked get their ways?
Why is good be paid back by evil?
Why is loyalty be paid back by infidelity?
......
Why, Lord, did you remain silent?

As Benedict prayed, a light rain stopped and a brilliant rainbow appeared over the camp -- Ah!... Beautiful rainbow, brilliant rainbow, I feel this is also the Lord's answer to me as I prayed for the disaster in Indonesia.

God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." (Genesis 9:12-17)

In the midst of evil, pain or disappointment, God remembers those who belong to him. In fact, He never forgets them -- even death will not separate His love for them.

Although the situation may not be reversed and in many cases will never be reversed, God does not shy away from hard questions in life and history.