Out of sight

Yesterday as I conversed with friends on FB a picture was posted of a magnificent sunburst. A small but dark cloud was low in the sky and the sun was beginning to dip toward the western horizon. The sun became hidden by the cloud. It truly wasn’t hidden for the bright rays sprayed out from behind the cloud creating a magnificent beginning to a sunset. We could not see the sun but we saw the evidence of it.

What about those times when the evening sky is completely blanketed by storm clouds? Do we question the sun’s presence? No not at all. We see the evidence it is still on our side of the earth. During the very young years of raising children I would need to explain where the sun goes when it becomes night. By experience and knowledge we know that the sun will rise just as we know spring follows the long winter.

With all this evidence in God’s creation of the presence of things hidden from view why is it so hard for us to accept that when God feels absent does not mean he is not there? In Psalm 42:6 David speaks of this very thing. “My soul is downcast within me, therefore I will remember you.” When I am sad, grieving or troubled my soul feels heavy, I guess David would call that downcast. It is then that is it most important for me to dig into the archives of my mind and remember all that God has done in the past. I need to remember his faithfulness and all the times he promises in his word that he would never leave me or forsake me. Just as the sun can be hidden from view whether by clouds or night doesn’t mean it is not there.

When my life is shrouded by dense clouds which are pouring down torrential rain and I am being tossed around by destructive wind I need to take the time to remember God is still with me. The noise of the storm and anxiety within me makes it had to “feel” him there. This does not change that he is still there. Habakkuk had a great handle on this:

 “Though the fig tree does not bud, though the crops produce no food…

 I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my savior.” 

I need to constantly remind myself that God is God but he is also my loving father. He is always present and all knowing so nothing escapes him. He paints a beautiful sunset for me every night and blankets me with his love. Even though some nights the sunset beauty is hidden from my sight by physical clouds or by emotional storms He is still there. The evidence is there and my part is to rest in that reality and bathe in his faithfulness.

“By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me –

a prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 42:8