Six months ago I remember being struck by the quality of writing of Sarah Jo who writes at Blind Insanity. Yesterday I returned there and read several articles. I kept coming back to this one. Click the title to read at source, and then take a few minutes to pick another item or two read and enjoy.
There is Light on this Side of the Clouds
For most of my young adult life, I lived in a bedroom with two big windows; one looking to the east, where a big bush blocked most of the light and the view, and another looking to the south, toward an open field.
On beautiful days, I would sit outside my south window, and look out on the beautiful world God had made.
From that vantage point, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the world. I could sing, write, read, cry, and just rest in the presence of Jesus… But it’s been a long time since I had Jesus-time there, and the view from my current window is a lot less beautiful, yet I know this is exactly where God wants me to be.
There is a beauty that does not rest in open fields or peaceful days.
There is a beauty that abides, steadfast, like an ancient mountain or a deep, God-made lake.
Though many years of storms, droughts, and any number of natural disasters may seek to overcome those forces of nature, yet they remain. Just like those physical things, the love and grace that comes from Jesus is not shaken by any circumstance or state of existence.
He is the Master of the storms and an anchor in the midst of them, and when I feel stuck, He is the wind in my sails.
The view from my window will change, but my Savior never does. The same God that met me by the south field meets me in my office, in my living room, or in one of the many parks I frequent.
I feel like you should know something about this post… It probably would have taken a very different bent, but God literally shined through my window, and I couldn’t think of anything else, but the fact that He is here. Though rain clouds have disguised the sun for the past five days, yet the sun decided to poke through the clouds just as I typed, “and the view from my current window is a lot less beautiful.”
I saw the light touch my hands, and noticed my office brighten, and then I looked up through my window and noticed a patch of blue sky just below a sun that was no longer hidden (except for being hidden by a blind).
It was like God was saying, “You have no idea what beauty is. You pretend to know, and You have even thanked me for beautiful things, but let Me remind You that beauty is found in Me, and not in what your eyes can see.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.1
From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ God understands the way to it, and He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When He gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, when He made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then He saw it and declared it; He established it, and searched it out. And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”2
It’s amazing what happens when the light shines in.
There are a lot of people living in dark rooms, and they think God isn’t there, or that He can’t reach them there. But, oh, how little they know.
Right now, the world is enshrouded in shadows, but that does not mean the Light has not come or is not present.
If our eyes can recognize earthly beauty, how much more beautiful is the Creator of that beauty? It doesn’t matter how dark or dirty this world becomes, because the One Who made it, and breathed it into life, did not make a mistake by making it.
He made the world and humankind to be good, perfect, and holy.
The first created man and woman walked with Jesus, unashamed, but they chose to disobey the one command He gave. They traded in perfection and holiness for sweat, hard work, and death.
It was a choice they made.
Adam and Eve said, “Yes,” to the darkness, and then they only wanted to hide in shame. But Jesus, in tender love and mercy, called out to them. He knew where they were and He knew what they had done, but He wanted them to join Him, tell Him what they had done, and find their hope in Him.
That same choice is laid before every human being; whether to say, “Yes” or “No” to the darkness. Unfortunately, a lot of people have chosen to say, “Yes,” and the evidence of that is in every tainted thing. But beauty still abides.
Jesus, the Savior of the world, lives.
He knocks on the door of every heart, but there are some who get stuck at the window. They don’t want to believe that the Son is just outside their cages of sin. They don’t want the sun to peak through the clouds and reveal the ugliness of the world they are wallowing in. But it is so much better to abide in God’s fold, to eat at His table, and to have the amazing gift to see the world as it will be when Jesus comes again.
In that beautiful and terrible day, every wall and window will be stripped away, Jesus will shine through the clouds, and the whole world will see His glory.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)
Dear Jesus, I know You see the souls that are enshrouded in darkness. Please step in and deliver them. Set them free and may their eyes be blessed to see Your goodness and beauty in the land of the living. Amen.
References
- Hebrews 11:1
- Job 28:20-28
Christianity 201 
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