Above The Clouds

Hi Everyone!

I am actually in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport typing this. But I was thinking about how amazing it is to be above the clouds when you are literally flying in the air. Things are seen from a totally different perspective. The clouds that seem so huge when you are underneath them in a rain storm, are all of the sudden so small when you are above them.

My analogy doesn’t quite work because I was thinking about how life is with Jesus now that I am a Christian. It isn’t like life is “above the clouds,” because there are still trials and significant challenges that we all face as believers. Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not make all of your problems go away, and if we are teaching that, we are teaching inaccurately. God’s purpose is to use trials to transform us to be more like Jesus Christ . It isn’t like we are “above the clouds” but there is definitely the similarity of having a different perspective---because WE KNOW the one that allows the clouds and storms into our lives, and we are confident and can trust that He is good, and we therefore KNOW that He is completely trustworthy-----and we have a n assurance that everything he allows is truly for our good. Again, praise his glorious name!

Updated August 13, 2010 11:36 a.m.

Somehow, by God’s grace, I was able to find the ONE free internet station functioning computer at the Dallas International Airport to be able to very quickly type that yesterday.

And (No longer being in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, but rather on the flight down to Mexico City, I was amazed as I was in the air above the clouds, but watching the rain clouds, where there was obviously a storm below. But above the clouds, I saw the sun shinning down so obviously and brightly through the clouds, pouring down light into the storm. And as we flew and I saw that, and later saw the sun set, I thought about my analogy as I had flown earlier that day. And maybe the Christian life and a personal relationship to God in the light of trials is a little more like the picture of the sun shinning through the clouds of rain from above. No matter what, God’s truth and love pour down to us in the midst of hard times. Nothing comes to us without being first allowed to happen by his permissive will, with the result in the end for it to work together for our good and His glory. But sometimes really YUCKY stuff does happen, because we live in a fallen sinful world, and even though we are saved by God’s grace, we are still sinners ourselves. He can and does work it all for good, the unseen and yet intimately involved hand of HIS going through the clouds to speak, working it all together.

And we can simply rest, because while we do not many times understand what is going on or why, GOD DOES KNOW AND PERFECTLY UNDERSTAND----AND AS I SAY OVER AND OVER---HE IS SOVEREIGNLY AND PERFECTLY IN CONTROL---AND NOTHING ESCAPES HIS NOTICE!!!!!! He sees it all! In this, we rejoice!