By Simon Ambit
For those of you who attended the Carbon County Search & Rescue Demolition Derby last Saturday, you were well entertained. My children cheered through every round, as truck, van, coupe and sedan all vied for victory in the mud of the earthen battlefield. With copious crashing and mashing, slinging mud and rolled vehicles, yet ample display of sportsmanship and concern for safety, it was a true spectacle.
What happened before the derby was also quite a display of events. With most of the crowd settling into our seats in the hour or so before the event got underway, the skies grew dark and it began to rain. After a few flurries and decent drizzles, several brilliant bolts of lightning lit the eastern sky above us and the thunder clapped its warning drum. The reverberation of the thunder had barely cleared the air when the droves of rain began to pour down around us! After about 30 minutes of the showering onslaught, everything not under cover was pretty well drenched.
As the storm lurched on past the fairgrounds, it was impressive to see it lumber across the valley and out of sight. In the wake of the storm came the late afternoon sun. Though low in the sky now, it still shined brightly through the broken clouds. With the welcome rays of the sun glistening off of the cavalry of hoods in the arena and through the moisture still lingering on the tail of the recent storm, there appeared a bright rainbow east of the arena. It was a grand sight to see.
The rainbow after the storm has been an analogy used since the time of Noah, when God’s outward covenant with mankind was tokened. I couldn’t help but draw on that analogy as my young son asked me how and why rainbows are made. Explaining to him that the sun shines/reflects through the water in the air and the rainbow is the result, he was able to understand why rainbows often show up the best after the rain. It was a great opportunity to reiterate that rewards often come after our trials.
We have been promised that we will not be tried with more than we can handle, but although we have been promised that our earth will not again be flooded over, we know that we are going to have to weather a few storms that may still drench us pretty well. Just as rainbows appear after storms and the rewards are handed out only after the demolition of the derby is complete, we can always find the good after the storm has been weathered. Life is good, keep on pursuing!