Frank Sinatra made a 1921 Al Jolson song very popular in the 1940s. It was called April Showers. Some of those familiar lyrics are:
Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May,
So if it’s raining have no regrets,
Because it isn’t raining rain you know, it’s raining violets.
Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it rain violets – or roses, tulips, or daffodils. But I have seen it rain rainbows. One of the most beautiful things your eyes will ever see is a rainbow develop against the backdrop of a stormy sky as the final remnants of the shower fall to the earth.
Today is National Rainbow Day. For those who are interested in the science behind the rainbow, consider what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) writes. “The sunlight shines on a water droplet. As the light passes into the droplet, the light bends, or refracts, a little, because light travels slower in water than in air (because water is denser). Then the light bounces off the back of the water droplet and goes back the way it came, bending again as it speeds up when it exits the water droplet.
“Why the colors? Sunlight is made up of many wavelengths—or colors—of light. Some of those wavelengths get bent more than others when the light enters the water droplet. Violet (the shortest wavelength of visible light) bends the most, red (the
longest wavelength of visible light) bends the least. So when the light exits the water droplet, it is separated into all its wavelengths. The light reflecting back to you, the observer with the Sunlight coming from behind you, from the water droplets will appear separated into all the colors of the rainbow! Violet will be on the bottom and red on the top.
“Why is a rainbow a bow—or arc? A full rainbow is actually a complete circle, but from the ground we see only part of it. From an airplane, in the right conditions, one can see an entire circular rainbow.”1
While all of that is interesting, we have to remember that God created the science that allows that rainbow to appear. And I prefer God’s explanation that came after the flood. Genesis 9:11-16 says, “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (12) And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: (13) I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. (14) And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: (15) And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of 
all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (16) And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
Genesis tells about the cataclysmic flood that destroyed the surface of the entire earth and all therein except that which was safe on the ark. After the ark had landed safely on Ararat and the inhabitants were able to disembark, God made a solemn promise to Noah as well as to us. Such a flood would never come again. Every time we see a rainbow, it should be a reminder of this promise. After all these centuries, God has remained true to His Word!
Culture has used the rainbow for something else as if to snub their noses at God’s promise. God did not promise, however, that cataclysmic judgment would never come. He simply said that He wouldn’t use a flood to accomplish His purpose. Instead, the judgments of the Revelation will be poured out upon the planet and eventually, the earth will be purged with fire (2 Peter 3:10-13).
The rain doesn’t bring violets but it does bring rainbows.
1https://scijinks.gov/rainbow/
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