When it comes to challenging experiences in our lives, they tend to be deeply personal … and they tend to be painful.
This past week my family was able to go to the coast for Thanksgiving. The first evening we were there, God gave us this incredible sunset. I have never seen a sunset like it before … if you look closely, you can see a white cross in the center of the setting sun.
At the time, this particular blog post was on my mind. And as I stood there in awe of the brilliant white cross in the center of the setting sun it was like God was saying: those challenging experiences … I’m right there with you in the middle of them!
What makes sunsets so beautiful? It’s the clouds.
Sunsets without a cloud in the sky are certainly pretty … but to be honest, they are rather plain and a bit boring. The truly spectacular sunsets are those with layers of clouds, dynamic ever-shifting clouds … which catch the sun and cast ever-changing swaths of varying colors all across the sky. These sunsets hold us spellbound … speechless … in awe … until the sun slowly dips below the horizon and the colors slowly fade away.
Sunsets are spectacular because of the clouds.
The sunset in today’s background photo is no exception. The brilliant white cross in the center of the setting sun probably would not even be obvious if it weren’t for the clouds.
So also, when it comes to our lives, it is the challenging experiences … it’s the “clouds” … which make for the most beautiful display of God’s power working in and through us.
But we don’t want “clouds.” We want “perfectly clear skies.”
God allows “clouds” in our lives so that His glory can be on display to the watching world. At the beach this past week, whenever the sun would set everyone would stop what they were doing and gaze in awe at the setting sun. You can’t help but stop what you are doing and take note of the glory and wonder.
It’s the same with God’s power and glory shining through the “clouds” of our lives. The “clouds” of our challenging experiences are ever-shifting … much like the ever-shifting clouds of the sky. Our challenging experiences are dynamic … changing moment-by-moment. We feel small and weak and frail and vulnerable. Is God with me?? Will God be with me in this??
Yes!! Yes … God is right there with you in the middle of it! Just like our background photo for today! God is right there in the middle of that difficulty! He is right there in the middle of that trial! No matter the “clouds” … God is right there in the middle of it!
And the power of His cross is shining brilliantly through your challenging circumstance … so that all the watching world can see!
2 Corinthians 12:10 – “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
