He's Still There

I apologize that this post is a day late. I was in Idaho for a week seeing my doctor there and just got back to FL and am still recovering. So today I thought I'd repost something I wrote last year. I needed the same encouragement again today. Funny how God can use something He gave you in the past to meet a need in the present. He's faithful like that.

Anyway, here it is. A reminder that whatever you're going through, even if you feel like you can't "see" Him, God is still with you. He's still there.

Unseen Reality (from 2017)

I enjoyed a wonderful visit in Scotland this summer! In that part of the world, the weather is very different from Florida in the summer. It's cooler there and rains a lot, and it's more often cloudy than sunny. We did have some nice sunny days, but other days it was so cloudy we didn't see the sun at all. 

While I was there, God also worked it out for me to go to Northern Ireland for a week, which was a sweet blessing! I took a short flight from Scotland to Northern Ireland. As the plane climbed into the sky, we flew through a thick cloud bank. Suddenly we came out on top of the clouds, and the sun was blazing brilliantly in the sky!
It was like I suddenly remembered that the sun did still exist, even though I hadn't seen it in a while. There it was shining brightly over the top of that cloud bank. The sun had never left or wavered or faltered. I just hadn't been able to see it through the clouds. 

The fact is that the sun doesn't move or change. The earth moves, and clouds can come and block our view, but the sun is always shining its light. 

I think we often forget this truth because we say things like, "I wish the sun would come out" or "The sun disappeared behind a cloud." In reality, the sun didn't hide or move. But we often speak words based on the perception of what we see or feel, not on the greater unseen reality. 

We can do the same with God, can't we? He is always there, unchanging. Jesus is always present, shining His light in our lives. But sometimes we can't see Him because of stormy circumstances or a dark night of the soul. We may say things like, "Where is God now?" or "I wish God would show up in my life." But the unseen reality is that He is ever-present, always glorious.

Maybe sometimes we just need a little flight of faith to lift us above the cloud banks, where we can see His light blazing so brightly that we pause in awe. Where we remember that He is present. He is beautiful. And He is active in our lives. 

Maybe we need to speak words that reflect the unseen reality of who Jesus is, instead of how we feel in the moment.

He has never left us. 
His love for us endures through every storm. 
His faithfulness never fails. 
His mercies are new every morning.  
He is eternally good.

I'm thankful God has given us His Word, our source of truth and the fuel of our faith. And I'm thankful God speaks to us through His creation, reminding us of eternal realities that are sure and steady, even though unseen.  

"Though you have not seen Him (Jesus), you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." -1 Peter 1:8-9