Looking up

I am just sitting here thinking about life and all it possesses. Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns. One thing that is constant about life is change. I read a devotional by Max Lucado recently that talked about the Israelites wondering in the wilderness and as they began to gripe, complain and murmur they looked up and it was raining manna. God had showed up and provided for their needs. He challenged the reader to look up when they were in doubt because God knows our need and He will provide. Sometimes I feel like I look up and all I see are gray clouds.

Last night I was outside with my wife and we looked up and the sky was bright blue and there were big fluffy white clouds. In front of each white cloud stood (or floated) a gray cloud just as fluffy. As we joked about how we feel that way sometimes I realized that even though there were gray clouds blocking the white clouds were still there. The same is true with God. Sometimes our life gets crazy or we find ourselves at a place where the future seems unclear and from our human perspective all we notice is the gray clouds but God is still there the whole time. In the midst of pain, in the midst of doubt, in the midst of gray clouds our God is still there shining as white as ever and in control of all things.

I have been asking God to help me to trust Him more and to take me to a place of following him more closely and intimately. Now I am being stretched and tried and battling doubt and discouragement and I am asking why. As I cry out to God for relief it is then that He responds, "Well which do you want?" "Do you want to learn to trust me more and follow me more closely or do you want relief?"

God is good ALL the time. Remembering to trust Him ALWAYS!