After the land dried and it was safe to disembark, God opened the door to the ark allowing Noah and all the animals to exit after being inside for a year. Responding to Noah's sacrifice after exiting the ark, God made a covenant with Noah, future generations and all living creatures (Genesis 9:1-17).
According to God, the guarantee or sign of this covenant is the colorful rainbow (9:13). He relates how seeing the rainbow would remind Him of His covenant to never again, with water, destroy all flesh (9:15).
Rainbows are very beautiful. We see them most of the time after a strong storm, a very appropriate time to remember God's covenant or promise.
Reflecting upon history, this covenant has been kept for 44 centuries. With over 1.6 million days as proof, there should be no doubt that God will keep His promises.
As one considers other promises of God they can have the same confidence they will be kept also. The promise of God to forgive a person who confesses before Him their sinful actions. The promise of God that He cares about the difficulties His people suffer. The promise of God that Jesus will return to this earth. These are as certain as the rainbow promise. Complete confidence can be placed in God's promises.
One of the reasons why God can keep His promises is because He never forgets them. Human beings have a tendency to forget a promise they made a long time ago. God is different, He does not forget.
One of the promises of God humans do not want to consider or dwell upon is the promise to punish those who are not His followers. It is very unpleasant to think about another human being, or even ourselves, being punished by God, eternally, because we or they were not faithful to Him. But just like God keeping His covenant concerning the flooding of the earth, God will keep this punishment promise.
Another promise of God that humans do like to consider is the reward for faithful service to God. Dwelling upon this promise brings comfort when thinking about ourselves and our loved ones who have passed away. But again, just like God has kept His covenant concerning the flood, He will keep His promise concerning this heavenly reward.
The question for our current generation is, "Do we trust God to keep all His promises?" Why would we think He will keep some and forget others?
Each time we see the beautiful rainbow after the rain, we should think about God's promises. This reminder should motivate all humanity to live faithfully to God and especially those who are living God's way.