I was practically hyperventilating as I trudged up the rocky path alone.
Why again did I agree to hike up a mountain? I hate hiking. I know I hate hiking. Why am I here, in this moment? ALONE??
Due to my ever impressive ability to take more time than anyone else while “hiking” (aka breathing heavily, drinking water, eating snacks, taking photos, and walking slowly) I got completely separated from my group. I called some of their names and listened for a response, but I was completely alone. The only other living things I could see were some bugs and the occasional lizard.
I was almost two hours away from the nearest town, hanging out near the top of a mountain all by myself. Since I no longer had anyone to catch up with, I sat down and looked out across the sky.
Although it was a cloudy day, there were no longer clouds above me. I had hiked so high the clouds were below me, and the only thing above me was a perfect blue sky, and perfect round sun.
It was gorgeous.
I didn’t see the town below. I didn’t see people or cars. I didn’t see buildings or roads.
I felt as if I were in another world separated from everything below. No problems, no issues, no drama, no worries, no tears, and no clouds. Literally and metaphorically.
In this moment I thought that maybe that’s more like how God sees the world.
There’s the drama, the crime, the hurt, the poverty, the chaos, the injustice. But climb a little higher, zoom out, back up and there’s God, in the bright blue sky, the same as he was since he created that sky.
The issues, the bad stuff, the crappiness of life is temporary, just like the clouds. But God is solid, everlasting. Big Blue Sky.
When I finally got back down the mountain and into town, I looked back up at that mountain. I couldn’t see the top; only clouds.
The clouds appeared to be all that was there, but I knew they weren’t.
I realized that I had never looked at the sky that way before. I always saw the clouds and blue sky as being mutually exclusive of one another, but they aren’t. The clouds don’t replace the sky, they just get in front of it for a while. Sometimes life’s struggles camp out at the forefront of our minds, just as a cloudy day pushes the clear blue sky from view. The struggles that we face don’t replace our blessings. The blessings are still there.
Losing a job doesn’t change the love in a relationship.
Getting sick for a week won’t affect the car we get to drive.
Forgetting to turn in a homework assignment won’t change the potential in our minds.
Failing at something new doesn’t invalidate everything that we have done successfully.
A failed relationship doesn’t change the immense love that God has for you.
Now when I look at a cloudy sky I think, It’s not really cloudy. I know that above those clouds is a bright blue sky, comforting and unwavering, and it’s not going to change.