It is evening time on August 13th and I am looking at a beautiful rainbow as I write this. It reminds me of a time when I gave a book of children’s Bible stories to a little girl many years ago.

The child saw the story of Noah’s Ark and the accompanying picture of people, including children, drowning in the great flood of Genesis 7. This story had a devastating effect on the little girl and I’m sure turned her mind totally away from anything to do with God.

Unfortunately, the story was never satisfactorily explained to her nor the meaning of the rainbow that followed in Genesis 9:13, I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 

This was God’s promise to Noah, and all of us, that He would never again do such a destructive thing to His people.

I’ve never been sure whether the flood story is allegory or not, but one thing I am sure of is that it’s effect on one little girl has haunted me since the day I was made aware of her great fear and apprehension.

Just as the rainbow of thousands of years ago was meant to be an apology from God to His people, this evening’s rainbow reminds me that because of a cruelly depicted story, a young child may have grown up to be an unbeliever…and for this I am truly sorry.

I pray that there has been enough evidence over the years of a God who loves her unconditionally and will continue to do so for the rest of her life.

This is my rainbow apology to that little girl.