When You Wonder If The Sun’s Still Up There

On a cool, dreary day, the sky was covered with dark gray clouds as far as the eye could see. After almost a week of warm days and bright sunshine, the cloud cover seemed completely unnecessary.

Bright sunshine gives us warmth and energy. We feel better, think better and function better on the beautiful days. It’s easy to see the sunshine on days when the sky is clear and bright blue.

But what about on the days you’re not so sure the sun is really up there. It’s blocked out by rain clouds that are filled with thunder and lightning and rain. Hour after hour goes by, and that’s all it takes to work ourselves into a pretty good funk. Our brains convince us that this is it, it’s all over and we’ll never enjoy the sunshine ever again. (Yes, our brains can be pretty dramatic.)

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 2 Corinthians 5:7

This verse is from Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, and he was making the point that death itself shouldn’t cause terror or dread in the heart of a believer. We may not know what to expect at the time of our death, but we have hope and confidence that if we’re not alive on earth, we’ll be alive in heaven in the presence of the Lord. Either way, Paul says, we live and we have victory!

This verse is absolutely true in the context of Paul’s letter, and it applies to so many other areas of our Christian faith. We walk by faith, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control and our future is secure. We shouldn’t be walking by sight alone because our eyes deceive us. If our dramatic brains pair up with our deceitful eyes, we’ll be focused on the clouds and not the sunshine we know is still back there.

Are you wondering if the sun is still up there today? Have enough clouds passed through your corner of the world that you have forgotten what the sun even looks like? Then these are the moments when sight must be exchanged for faith. I pray that you’ll look beyond the clouds, and sometimes through a small opening when the clouds break apart a little, and see that the Lord is still on the throne. He’s still working everything for your good and His glory.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet...
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee...
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit...
Read more