Sunshine

DateLine (9/13/06 – King of Prussia, PA)

A few weeks ago I sat glued to the weather reports for a few days as Hurricane Ernesto come ashore in Florida and worked its way up the East Coast. It threatened ominous weather for the entire eastern part of the country for the next few days. I happened to be working in New York that week and was scheduled to fly home on Friday. According to the forecast the storm would not quite be at my departure point by Friday noon but would already be past home by the time I arrived. Timing seemed to be right for me to take off before it impacted the Newark, NJ airport and hopefully things would be clear for an uneventful landing in Charlotte. While the timing looked encouraging the thoughts of having to fly over or around the storm did not excite me.

The plan worked with only a minor hitch, my departing flight from NJ was only about 1.5 hours late. I felt fortunate that it was not worse. The climb out of Newark was bumpy but once we cleared 20,000 feet the most beautiful sunshine that you could imagine streamed through the aircraft windows. The storm clouds below were a fluffy white when viewed from above. If I had not known what lay below the clouds I would have thought that it was a gorgeous sunny summer day.

Many times we are preoccupied with the storms of life. The possibilities or the probabilities of future misfortune and calamity dictate our present actions. Expert opinion and past history conspire to convince us that trouble is eminent. We’re ineffective in the present as we’re preoccupied with the future. The truth is we will experience storms. All we can do is make every attempt to prepare for the inevitable to improve our odds for minimal impact. It was not the inevitability of troubles that that impressed me with my Ernesto experience; it was the provision of God.

As I basked in the high altitude sunshine I realized that God has the capability and the desire to take us above the storm. While the storm below was a stark reminder of the fingerprints of sin in the fallen world, the clear skies above was a both a clear picture of the providential care of God and a predictor of the salvation that He has made available for mankind. At some point I knew that I would descend through the clouds to possible trouble still lurking below but that brief respite from the storm somehow made it easier to bear. There will be a time for the Christian that God will reach down and lift us above the storm for all of eternity, but until that fateful time it does our souls well to remember that the sun is always shining somewhere.

“ . . . but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31.

The brief respite from troubles below as we soar with God above provides rest for the present and preparation for the future.