Living Above the Clouds

On my way back from our Alaska mission trip I nearly puked on our first flight. I have flown a lot but wow this time I felt awful. There was so much turbulence on the way down and we circled around the airport for what seemed like forever. It didn't help that someone in front of me was watching a movie that had a scene where someone's skin was being cut off! Wow, thanks for that. After a while, we finally landed and man was I glad to be on the ground.

In a new album by Andy Mineo called The Arrow, he asks a lot of questions about doubt and uncertainty. At the end of the album, he shares about his own turbulence experience in the song Lost. You can read a quote from the song below.

I had this moment where I was on a plane
We was at LGA, it was getting ready to take off
And it just looked gloomy and dark like thunder and lightning
I didn't even think we were gonna take off
Anyways, we started to take off, the pilot was like, you know, "Brace yourself, there's gonna be some turbulence"
We started going through the clouds and everything is shaking
I thought we was gonna die *laughs*
But, when we got through the clouds, it looked like California
It was like sunny and bright and beautiful
It's like I almost had forgotten for a second that the sun like even existed
And, I had this moment where I was like
Yo, the sun is still here
It was here the whole time, I just couldn't see it
And, I don't know, it just spoke to me, so
The thought I had was, why don't we take one of the elements
Take arrow and have it going through a cloud
So, that half the arrow's above the cloud, half the arrow's below the cloud

Earlier in the song, he talked about a lot of pain that he went through in but in each chorus, a choir sang, "when I get above the clouds, I know the sun's out, I will be all right."  

In life, we have to live above the clouds and have the perspective of God. It is so easy in the midst of our pain, uncertainty, and doubt for us to forget that God is there the whole time if we would only look past the clouds. 

Andy also says earlier in the song,

So, I bet you if I never had pain
Bet you that I never would pray
Trust Him even when I don't see
That's the definition of faith
I know I got a problem with control, ay
Arrow gotta fly, let it go, ay
You never said I wouldn't go through it
Hmm, you just said I wouldn't be alone

David says in Psalm 23 "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me." In this Psalm, David reminds himself that the dark valleys will come but God is there in the midst of the valley. Just reminding myself that God is in the midst of the valley gives me the hope to move forward. My dad would say to me in difficult times, "this too will pass." There is an end to every dark valley. The ultimate end for all of us in this dark life is an eternity with God in the light with no pain and that is the greatest hope any of us can have.

The closest I have ever felt to God was in my dark valleys. In college, I hardly had two pennies to rub together. I still remember one day looking at my bank account to only see $5 in there! In the midst of this, I was afraid I would not be able to afford coming back to school for the spring semester of my sophomore year. I needed something like $1,500! I prayed and prayed believing that God called me, so I know he will provide. A few weeks after that I got a call from our finance office to let me know I qualified for $1,500 scholarship. Not only was I excited but I saw God move on my behalf in a real way for the first time in my life. It was a moment that drew me closer to him but I had to first trust him in the dark valley.

To be above the clouds is to have his perspective and to know God is with you through the dark valleys. We only see our momentary issue but God sees our future, our faith deepening, and us drawing closer to him. When we see difficulty he sees a testimony and victory coming. 

Don't give up on God because he has not given up on you. Allow his presence to comfort you as you walk through the dark valley. Remember even on the stormiest days that the sun is still shining. May we have his perspective, the one above the clouds.