Sunshine Behind the Clouds

One of the things I love about my commute to and from work is the morning sky.  Depending on the time of the year I might get to watch the sunrise.  For the last week or so, the morning sky has been nothing to write about.  We have been surrounded by gray clouds, making it hard to wake up, much less get excited about the day.

This morning, we were greeted by several inches of newly fallen snow, which usually brings with it a feeling of freshness and cleanness, except at the end of February, when we're wearying of winter and have by now been teased by a few springlike days, only to be thrown back into the cold.  As soon as I started driving I knew I should have left earlier.  The roads were mucky and only partially plowed.  The sky was gray.  Again.  I sighed deeply and went on my way.

As if gray skies weren't enough, I felt enveloped by a gray mood.  Wisconsin is going through some difficult days as the newly elected governor, standing true to his campaign promises, is attacking the budget deficit with vigor.  The teachers' union is not happy, to say the least, as their right to collective bargaining is up for slashing.  Strong opinions are flying everywhere, accompanied by less than charitable feelings toward the "other side", whichever side that may be.  It's just politics - and it's the way things are.  People disagree all the time.  What's my problem?

I've been around long enough and have lived through enough conflict to know full well that this is the kind of thing that has division written all over it.  This is the kind of battle that separates friends and families and yes, even churches.  I'm not so sure I can handle one more factious fight in my lifetime.  I am grieved and gray.  I told Flyboy last night that without some heretofore untapped reservoir of grace one more major attack on the fabric of our church just might do me in.  He understood.  God bless him.

And so it was, with such gray clouds above that I began the drive to work this morning.

As I drove, something caught my eye.  The gray sky above seemed, in one spot, to be not so gray.  There seemed to be a brightness trapped behind, trying to push through.  And while it didn't clear the sky, the sun was there, slightly visible, reminding me that behind the gray clouds, the sun is burning brightly.  Even when the sun is completely invisible to me, it is still burning brightly.  Even in the dark of night, the sun, on the other side of the world, is burning brightly.  The sun never ceases to burn brightly.

The same is true for the Son.  Even when things around me look gray, His love continues to burn brightly.  His grace is as available as ever, not blocked by the clouds, not held back by circumstance or struggle.  His grace is in abundance, and once we step out of the way, nothing can stop it.

The opaque sun, barely seen through the gray morning brought much hope to my heart.  And then, like the cherry on top of a sundae, I found this verse waiting for me in my email at work:

"And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?  My hope is in you."  Psalm 39:7 NLT

Thank you, God, for sunshine behind the clouds.