For the first time since Covid my family and I had the opportunity to take a trip to Florida recently. On the return trip it was raining heavily as we flew out of Orlando. The takeoff was shaky, the rain pounding against the glass of the plane and thick clouds surrounded us. This went on for longer than I’d have liked but then something powerful and spectacular happened. We broke through the clouds and into an incredible flame-orange sunset. To say this was breathtaking would be an understatement. All the time we were in this storm the sun was blazing glorious above us. We needed only to get above the clouds to enjoy the sun. Mind you that would have been hard without an airplane!
I’ve thought about this since and it reminds me our relationship with God sometimes and how He interacts with us. We get into a fog, our lives get cloudy, we experience storms but all the time God is shining. We need only rise above the storm to experience it.
Facing the storms of life
Two ideas have come to mind about the ‘how’ of this thought process. One is that no matter what the storm is like in our lives, God is still shining and will break through. He may seem to be shrouded but He continues to shine His light into the darkness. Just as storms pass and the sun shines anew, so too does God break through the storms of life to shine in our lives again. Stay with it, don’t give up, the clouds will break, the sun will shine. The Bible says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of a mankind. The light shines in the darkness.” (John 1:4-5)
Second, we don’t need to ‘rise up’ in order to experience this like I did in an airplane. God sending His son Jesus to die for us means that the light of salvation broke through the storms and clouds to light the world. It’s like that moment when the sun breaks through clouds with glorious sunshine. Accept and live by this truth. John wrote: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.” (John 3:21)
We experience life as we overcome
So, we soar and we remain, a relationship of action and waiting. Oswald Chambers wrote: “God does not give us overcoming life but life as we overcome.” Just like we got on a plane to soar above the storm so too does God wait for us to take the initiative before His overcoming power is unleashed. Like the man who was a leper in Matthew 8 who called out to Jesus we have a part to play. He declared, “If you are willing you can make me clean.” Jesus was and he did. We don’t need to remain in the storms of life, we can call out to God and soar into the sunshine.
Yes, the Son is shining constantly despite the clouds that come into our lives. He’s there for those who soar in their relationship with Him but He’s also there for those who can’t, that’s the heart of the gospel of Jesus death, burial and resurrection, for those whose wings have been clipped. The storm will end, the Son will shine again. Sometimes we just need to wait.
Are you in a storm right now? Is someone you are coaching or training struggling with perspective? Do you feel stuck in a rut whether in training or life? The son is shining…seek…soar!
