The Sun Shines above the Clouds

I was on a domestic flight from Lagos to Jos, after having sat through a 6-hour overnight trip to Nigeria. I was tired as you can imagine. I tend not to sleep when I travel. I like to be aware of what is going on around me. Thankfully I had a seat by the window so I took in the view as we ascended.

I have always been fascinated by the clouds and this time was no different, despite my fatigue. As we took off, there was a bit of cloud cover but what fascinated me the most was that as we ascended, the dark clouds began to dissipate. The higher we rose, the brighter it became, until we reached the maximum altitude and guess what... the sun was shining! Not a dark cloud was in sight. The view from above the clouds was breath-taking. This got me thinking and I came to the conclusion that the dark clouds we see are only down here. Above the clouds, there is no rain, no dark clouds and the sun shines.

Our perspective really matters. When we view things from a human perspective, all we see are the problems, obstacles, darkness, pain and things that keep us from progressing. But when we take on God's perspective, that is a whole new dimension. God does not see things they way we do; His ways are different and His thought-process is different (Isaiah 55:8-9). When dark clouds appear, what do we do? Do our hearts sink at the thought of the impending torrent? Or do we look beyond the clouds to see the sun shining? Our mindset is very important. Dark clouds are inevitable in our everyday life. How we deal with them is a real gamechanger. We can choose to be pessimistic and see only the inconvenience that they might bring, the puddles that could form from the rainfall or the change in our well laid-out plans. If we view things from God's standpoint however, we won't see the rain clouds but instead, we would see that beyond the clouds, the sun still shines. It might take a while for the sun rays to break through the clouds but that does not mean they won't. God makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

When the doctor told me, "You have cancer", my whole world stopped. This was a dark cloud which had appeared out of nowhere with no warning whatsoever. I could not think. I could not focus. All that came to my mind was that I was going to die. That was me viewing things from my myopic human stance. I could only see the dark clouds and imagine the deluge that was about to ensue. I could not imagine that there was a ray of sunlight beyond all the darkness. I only needed to look around me and see evidence of people who had lost their cancer battles and the dark clouds got even darker. The turning point came when God reminded me from Isaiah 43:1-2 that He was going to walk with me through the storms and the fire, and I was not going to be overwhelmed. That helped me focus on the sun which remained constant behind the dark clouds. I was inspired by many who have used their cancer battles to touch lives and change the course of history. I knew then that my story could be just what another person needed to help them come out from under the yoke of the dark cloud.

God has not promised us a cloud-free existence. There is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8); the dark clouds will come, but the sun will be there too. When that time comes, what would we choose to focus on? The clouds or the sun beyond the clouds? The choice is ours to make.

In the face of disappointments

God remains true,

His promises are sure,

And He remains I AM.

His light shines through every dark cloud.

He comes to me in the midst of the storm.

He holds my hand and walks with me.

He leads me safe to shore.

He never leaves me alone,

Of this I am sure.

The things I see and feel

May be tough and real,

But they won't last long.

My temporary fears and pain

Are working for eternal gain.

The sun will come out again,

Chasing every dark cloud away.