We all experience hard times, relational strife or loss and fear. And it can lead to deep depression and self-doubt. However, there is always one thing present in those times that we can easily forget: the consistency of God.
I travel a lot for ministry and work, and I have for years. A while ago I was on a flight that scared me a little. Not long after take-off we flew up through a dark layer of storm clouds. The plane rocked and jumped from side to side and seemed to struggle as it climbed through the clouds. It was a pretty turbulent few minutes.
Above It All
But then we poked through that dark storm layer and what I saw was beautiful. The sky up there was completely blue and peaceful. Our ride smoothed out and everyone (myself included) breathed a little easier and settled into our flight.
And life was good.
I have probably seen and experienced something similar to this dozens, or even hundreds of times in the past. But his time something powerful struck me. There is a consistency to that blue sky up there. It never goes away. It was up there the entire time that me and my fellow, terrified travelers felt trapped in that storm.
I imagine that you can see where I’m going with this. Right?
More to the Metaphor
I want to suggest that there is something even bigger than remembering that God is always present in the storms of life.
Our heavenly Father loves us. As sons and daughters of God we have his perfect, unbroken love and acceptance. That will never change despite our “performance” in life or how we feel about him. He is “up there all the time” (like the perfect blue skies) and the person that he now sees in us, because of Christ, never changes.
That is good news. And that bears remembering and reminding ourselves (and others) of often!
Our identity (who we are) does not change by our actions (what we do), or our circumstances, ever.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Our identity (who we are) does not change by our actions (what we do), or our circumstances, ever.” quote=”Our identity (who we are) does not change by our actions (what we do), or our circumstances, ever.”]
Are you experiencing…
- Low self-worth? God sees you as his beloved daughter or son and his image-bearer. That is priceless.
- Loss in relationship? Jesus came from heaven to Earth to pursue a relationship with you!
- An uncertain future? God is the Alpha and Omega–the beginning and the end. He knows your future and holds it all in his hand.
- Financial difficulty? God knows the plans he has to prosper you and show his generosity in and through your life.
- Parenting or marriage problems? Your family is one of God’s greatest gifts. He has perfectly designed them, and you, to reveal his glory and his son Jesus in you.
- Past hurts and blame? The Glorious One has forgiven you. He holds nothing against you: when Jesus said, “it is finished”, he meant it!
So if you’re like me and you tend to fly underneath the dark clouds so often and so long that I forget there’s a blue sky up above, then the next best time to remember that the Father’s perfect, unbroken love and affection is “up there” waiting for you, is now. He loves you. I hope you believe that.
Question: Why do you think it is so common to forget about the unlimited resource that we have in God and try and fix things on our own? Leave me your thoughts below.
If this has encouraged you, please share this post/video with someone you love now.
