After the shooting at Covenant Christian School in Nashville killed six of their own, members of the school and its parent church, Covenant Presbyterian, have stuck tightly together to support each other. Together they’ve had to figure out how to go on after their school was targeted, and three children and three adults were killed in a horrific shooting. I am sure many of them have asked in their grief, “Where is God in all of this?”
Last week, as school students and parents as well as church members gathered together for their first chapel since the shooting, God showed them where he was: right with them. As they gathered, “out of nowhere,” a double rainbow appeared over the school and church. The moment was captured in a picture that quickly went viral and was shared by many people around the world.
It was a beautiful sight that evoked many emotions for those who witnessed it. The rainbow was a sign of hope, a reminder of God’s faithfulness and His protection of the school and its community. Many students and staff members reported feeling a strong sense of comfort and peace, as if God was saying that He was still with them and He hadn’t forgotten about them.
Musician Dave Barnes, whose three children attend the school, described the event on his Facebook page, saying:
“…yesterday afternoon, right as we were beginning our first chapel back as the Covenant School Community and also back at Covenant Church, this rainbow came out of NOWHERE.
It was SO bright and SO intense and seemed to last forever.
It was like God was yelling from heaven – “I see you! I have not forgotten you!”
It was one of the most poignant things I’ve ever experienced in my life.
God never promises for everything to make sense. He’s God and we’re not. But He promises that He loves us and will always take care of us. And what did God decide to use show this promise (also known as his COVENANT!!) to his people? A rainbow!
Barnes’ post was paired with some beautiful pictures of a vibrant, stunning double rainbow just outside Covenant Presbyterian church.
Even seeing the photos of these gorgeous rainbows is a breathtaking experience, knowing the time and place at which they appeared, as well as to whom—the members of a grieving community—they appeared.
When bad things happen, we rarely understand why, and we often wonder where God is. The Covenant community got an answer last week when they gathered again for chapel: God is in the midst of the hard things, right with us.
