Light in the Clouds

I've written before about the time I was in an airplace, taking off in a storm. Although everything looked dark and dreary, when we passed through the clouds the sun was shining bright. I always remember that experience when things get me down, and I can't seem to see the light.

I recently enjoyed a devotion in the book "Unto The Hills" by Billy Graham. The titled is: "Behind the Clouds," and it reminded me of my experience. He speaks of his home on a mountain top where often he can see the clouds in the valley below. While he enjoys beautiful sunlight and clear skies, he observes thunderstorms and lightning flashes, and thunder roaring--all far below where he sits on the top of the mountain.

Clouds are mentioned in the Bible many times. God spoke to His people through a cloud. He called Moses 'out of the midst of the cloud', Exodus 24:16, and His 'glory appeared in a cloud.' Exodus 16:10 The scripture verse associated with the devotion is: "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds." Psalm 36:5

Charles Kingsley said: "No cloud across the sun but passes at the last and gives us back the face of God once more." And Longfellow said: "Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; behind the clouds is the sun still shining."

I enjoy looking at the different clouds as they roll by. Fluffy white; faces and animal shapes; storm clouds, and faint outlines. Graham says: "The Bible indicates that clouds are given to us for a purpose, and that there is glory in the clouds and that every cloud has a silver lining."

And I believe they do! The sun always shines on the other side of the cloud.
We will always have clouds, both in the sky and in our lives. Yet God is still
shining bright and waits for our eyes to see Him.
My sister, Kathy, took the middle snap of angry clouds at her home in Oklahoma.