HOPE

Clouds carry along both dark and light above our heads, always changing, moving in obedience to the wind. Their shadows shifting right, left, underneath, determined by its orientation to the sun. Their shape pulled into manageable strands or billowing to terrifying heights I cannot contain. Yes, the moon reflects the sun, but the clouds, they hold its light in mass and pull the air out of our lungs as we pass under another composition we’ve never seen before.

Looking at the circumstances and people in my life, a reality surfaces—they are mostly unpredictable, sometimes frightening, sometimes beautiful sights to me. I cannot shift them, shape them, make them function as the moon, calculated and reflecting light in every phase. But they are clouds, taking their cues from the wind, sometimes out of control, sometimes thin, always bearing light and shadow in direct relationship to the sun. I stand humbled and in awe as I watch a composition I’ve never seen before being made in a place out of my reach. I sometimes see only the underneath shadow, but trust in the light held on the other side and outcomes that will take my breath away. Today, I rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not a response to the glory I’m seeing, but trusting I will not be disappointed in the hope I possess.

(Romans 5:2-5; Psalm 22:4-5)