A Break in the Clouds – June 27, 1999
A businessman, exhausted from a lengthy trip that yielded far less than he had anticipated for all his hard work, sat gazing out of his office window one late afternoon. He felt overcome with discouragement. Even the sky was overcast. He sat, as it were, marinating in his misery when he noticed a break in the clouds that widened into a tiny patch of blue. He was held spellbound as he witnessed visible rays breaking forth from that tiny patch—a shaft of light that illuminated a clouded sky and his own sad heart. As he drank in the view, he felt a warm, reassuring comfort fill his soul. It was as though a loving Father in the distant heavens was saying: “I am with you. All will be well.”
Many other events of nature carry a similar message of encouragement to the weary and the downtrodden. One of these happens when a light rain is caught in the magic of sunlight, making a rainbow. What a glorious thing—a rainbow! It, too, speaks an eloquent message from the heavens. A rainbow has the power to change our focus from ourselves and our troubles to a feeling of hope and contentment. It causes us to look upward—to smile, in spite of ourselves. It seems to say, “Look! Life is beautiful after all.”
We witness another message from heaven every time a brilliant yellow rose blooms from a prickly brown stem. When a tiny hummingbird flutters at a standstill for just a moment. When leaves rustle in a gentle breeze. When all the wonders of nature greet us on a normal day, they stand as undeniable evidence that God is watching over us. Knowing that He is there and very much aware of us and our needs can bring comfort and perspective into our lives. One little girl understood this well when, repeating the Twenty-third Psalm, she said: “The Lord is my Shepherd, that’s all I want.”1
When evidence of God’s love doesn’t show up in the bank balance, or on a hospital chart, it may be time to look for a break in the clouds. He is watching over us, sending a message of love and encouragement in a language human words could never match.
Program #3645
1Barac-Philathea News, The Christian Leader’s Golden Treasury (Indianapolis: Droke House, 1955), 221.