Behind The Clouds
Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Psalm 36:5
My home is on a mountain nearly four thousand feet high. Many times we can see below us the clouds in the valley. Some mornings we wake up to find that we are in lovely sunshine, but that the valley below is covered with clouds. At other times thunderstorms come up, and we can see the lightning flash and hear the thunder roar down below, while we are enjoying beautiful sunlight and clear skies above.
Many times I have sat on our rustic front porch and watched the clouds below. I have thought of the clouds of discouragement and suffering that temporarily veil the sunlight of God’s love from us. Many people live with a cloud hanging over their lives. Some may be in hospital beds; others are suffering discouragement and bereavement. A heavy cloud hangs over them.
The Bible has a great deal to say about clouds. For they sometimes symbolize the spiritual forces which obscure the face of God. The Bible indicates that clouds are given to us for a purpose and that there is glory in the clouds and that every cloud has a silver lining. It is written in Exodus 16:10, “They looked . . . and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.” Without the clouds there would be no lavish sunsets, no rain, no light, no beautiful, picturesque landscapes.
Charles Kingsley sensed this truth when he wrote: “No cloud across the sun but passes at the last and gives us back the face of God once more.” Longfellow also saw meaning in life’s clouds when he said: “Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; behind the clouds is the sun still shining.”
The Bible says that God was in the cloud and that He spoke to His people through a cloud. The Lord said, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud” (Exodus 19:9). Again, God called to Moses “out of the midst of the cloud” (Exodus 24:16). There are clouds in our lives shadowing, refreshing, and oftentimes draping them in the blackness of night, but there is never a cloud without its bright light.
Our Father and our God, I search for Your light behind the clouds of my life. I long to see beyond my troubles to the brilliance of Your face. I know You are there, Lord, even when the clouds are all I can see. I trust You, Father, no matter what happens, because of Jesus, who brought the light to me. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).