I’ve watched a lot of sunrises in my life; yes, I am a morning person. A lot of mornings this past summer I’ve been up early enough to be sitting on my deck with my Bible as the sun came up. There was a morning a few weeks ago that was so spectacularly beautiful it brought tears to my eyes – every shade of red and orange and yellow imaginable. This past morning, and the last few, have not been spectacular. The sky gets lighter, the ball of fire breaks the horizon, the sky is a beautiful clear blue. Not that that’s not amazing and wonderful in and of itself – it just isn’t the light show that happened a few weeks ago.
Here’s the thing. On those spectacular sunrise mornings there
are clouds. Lots of low lying clouds that reflect the sun before it rises above
the horizon. The red and orange and yellow flaming through the sky before the
ball of fire breaks the horizon is a feast for the eyes. But these sunrises do
not turn into what we would call “a beautiful day.” Clouds are often signs of
storms and turbulence.
Life is like that. Clear blue sky has a beauty of its own, and
life that’s cruising along without a hitch does too. But clouds reflect the sun
better than clear sky, and a life full of trouble reflects God’s glory in a way
that it otherwise could not. Nobody wants these bad times in life – but look to
God, cling to Him, and let your troubled life reflect His spectacular Glory in
a powerful and beautiful way. This Sonrise will set the sky on fire.
2 Corinthians 4:6-11 (ESV) - For God, who said,
“Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this
treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and
not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not
driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being
given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our mortal flesh.
©Rebecca Huffman Givens, 10/17/15
