The sound of the sliding glass door jolted Rebecca. She hurried to the den and peered outside. Sure enough, there stood Lucy on the deck, an umbrella clasped in her hands, peering out over the yard. What on earth?

Rebecca pulled open the door, shivering as the chilled air whooshed by her. “Lucy? What are you doing out there? Come back inside.”

Lucy obeyed, trudging back into the house and dropping the soaked umbrella into Rebecca’s hands. She pulled off her boots and flopped on the sofa.

“Lucy?”

Lucy turned toward Rebecca, disappointment covering her face. “Mrs. Johnson told us rainbows come out when it’s raining. I never saw one in real life, so I was trying to see one. But I couldn’t find any.”

Rebecca set the dripping umbrella on the kitchen table and joined Lucy on the sofa. “Mrs. Johnson was right. Sometimes you can see rainbows when it rains. But only when the sun is shining, and the sun has to be behind you. It’s too cloudy today to see one.”

Lucy pouted. “I’m never going to see a rainbow.” She folded her arms across her chest.

Rebecca patted Lucy’s hand. “I can show you a rainbow. And we don’t even need to go out into the rain to see it.”

Lucy straightened. “How, Mommy?”

“Come with me to the attic.”

Lucy hopped off the sofa and followed Rebecca up the stairs. Rebecca started rummaging in boxes. Lucy peered over her shoulder. “What are you looking for?”

“When I was a little girl, I used to love the chandelier in my grandma’s house. It would make sparkly rainbows all over the room when it was sunny. When Granny moved into the nursing home, she gave the chandelier to me, but I did nothing with it. I’m going to show you how a prism works.”

Lucy’s forehead wrinkled. “What’s a prism?”

“It’s a piece of glass that bends light when it goes through it. Light looks like it’s white, but it’s actually made up of all the colors.” Rebecca opened up another box and smiled. “Here it is.” She pulled a few of the prisms from the chandelier. “Let’s take these downstairs and I’ll show you.”

Rebecca and Lucy carried the prisms down the stairs and laid them on the table next to the umbrella. “Now all we need is a flashlight. I think the one in the garage should be old enough.”

“Why does it have to be old, Mommy?”

“Flashlights today are made from a different kind of light. But the old-style flashlights still work.” Rebecca grabbed the old flashlight from the garage and handed it to Lucy. “Shine the flashlight through the prism and point it at that light-colored wall.”

Lucy obeyed, and soon, a rainbow danced on the wall. Lucy’s eyes lit with pleasure.

“I did it, Mommy! I made a rainbow!”

Rebecca’s heart filled at the simple joy in Lucy’s face, when something occurred to her. There could be a lesson in all of this. “You didn’t make that rainbow, honey. God did.”

“What do you mean?”

“The rainbow was there all along. You just couldn’t see it. All light is made up of the colors of the rainbow. You just needed the prism to separate it out in a way your eyes could see it. When the sun shines through the raindrops, the raindrops do the same thing–they bend the light so you can see the rainbow. Rainbows are all around us if we know how to look. It’s the same way with God.”

Lucy turned toward her mother. “Do you mean I can see God if I know how to look?”

“Of course. You can’t see God the way you can see me, but He’s everywhere. In the beauty of a flower, in the gift of a sunset, in the kindness of a friend. He creates little miracles for us every day.”

Lucy was quiet for a moment. “If God works through kindness, do you think if we’re kind, we can show God to other people?”

Rebecca stared at her daughter. Her eight-year-old mind comprehended God in a way few adults did. “Yes. I do think by being kind we can show God’s love to other people.”

Lucy turned from the rainbow on the wall to the gray day outside. Her face brightened. “I think I know how to do that. Let’s take the flashlight and the prisms to Granny. I bet she misses her house and having the prisms make rainbows.”

Tears sprung to Rebecca’s eyes, but she blinked them away. “You’re absolutely right. We could take her some of the cookies we baked last night. And we could tie the prisms to her window so when the sun comes through, she’ll see rainbows.”

Lucy bounced on her heels. “And then, every time she sees the rainbows, she’ll think of God. And she’ll remember that even though she can’t see God’s face, she’ll know He’s there, watching out for her.”

Rebecca moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll pack up some cookies, and we’ll go see her right now.” On a gray, miserable day like this, she never would have thought to visit her elderly grandmother. But a day like this was just the kind of day Grandma would need to have a little light in her life. And today, that light would come in the form of an old flashlight, some prisms, and a very special little girl.

Genesis 9:13-16

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.

God, we rarely see rainbows, but they’re always there, in every light around us, just like You are always there. Help us see Your hand in our lives. Please make Your presence known. And when we have the opportunity to show You to other people, please give us the boldness and the strength to take those opportunities. Help us shine Your light to those around us to make their lives a little brighter. In Jesus’ name, Amen.