Streams in the Desert - May 15

Men see not the bright light which is in the clouds. (Job 37: 21 KJV)

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Much of the world’s beauty is due to clouds. The unchanging blue of a beautiful, sunlit sky still does not compare to the glory of changing clouds. And earth would become a wilderness if not for their ministry to us.

Human life has its clouds as well. They provide us with shade, refresh us, yet sometimes cover us with the darkness of night. But there is never a cloud without its “bright light.” God has told us, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds” (Gen. 9: 13). If only we could see clouds from above— in all their billowing glory, bathed in reflective light, and as majestic as the Alps— we would be amazed at their shining magnificence.

We see them only from below, so who will describe for us the “bright light” that bathes their summits, searches their valleys, and reflects from every peak of their expanse? Doesn’t every drop of rain in them soak up health-giving qualities, which will later fall to earth?

O dear child of God! If only you could see your sorrows and troubles from above instead of seeing them from earth. If you would look down on them from where you are seated “with Christ . . . in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 2: 6), you would know the beauty of the rainbow of colors they reflect to the hosts of heaven. You would also see the “bright light” of Christ’s face and would finally be content to see those clouds cast their deep shadows over the mountain slopes of your life.

Remember, clouds are always moving ahead of God’s cleansing wind.
~selected

I cannot know why suddenly the storm
Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath;
But this I know— God watches all my path,
And I can trust.
I may not draw aside the unseen veil
That hides the unknown future from my sight,
Nor know if for me waits the dark or light;
But I can trust.
I have no power to look across the tide,
To see while here the land beyond the river;
But this I know— I will be God’s forever;
So I can trust.

Reference

Cowman, L. B. E.; Reimann, Jim (2008-09-09). Streams in the Desert: 366 Daily Devotional Readings (pp. 195-196). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

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