Rev 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds … ESV
I have used the example of flying in the clouds many times as it presents a perfect picture of our life of faith in Christ. If there were no clouds we wouldn’t need our faith. If it’s a beautiful, cloudless, sunny day, you can fly by following the clues to your progress you see looking down. There is far less pressure than when you are surrounded by clouds and all the visual clues are gone. Let’s look at those clouds.
In the Bible, clouds are always connected to God. They are the challenges and sufferings we go through. Seen apart from God, we view them as difficulties or accidents. But it’s by those clouds that God teaches us to walk by faith; fly on instruments by trusting what they are telling us. Behold He is coming with the clouds is the very sign that God is there in our troubles; in the midst of those times when we can’t see the path ahead, the way through the clouds to the other side.
Have you noticed that God doesn’t seem to come when it’s clear and sunny? It’s when we are in the midst of our clouds that He comes for the purpose of teaching us something. Well, maybe that’s the wrong way to view it. In those clouds that He brings perhaps He wants us to “unlearn” something and He uses those clouds to make our relationship with Him like that of a little child. He uses those clouds to bring us closer to Him and it’s our job to follow His leading … trust in and fly by our instruments … the Holy Spirit.
We need to view the clouds He brings from a different perspective. If we are always looking for Him to teach us something new, we miss the opportunity of dealing with something He is showing us that is negatively impacting our relationship with Him. Those clouds are always bringing us to a place where we can unlearn things. In the plane those clouds center our focus on what is going on inside and not outside. They present the answer to flying straight and level, to keeping us on course … if we pay attention and are obedient to do what they are telling us to do.
Clouds, always clouds. There are no such things as calamities or accidents to the bride of Christ …
Rom 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ESV
When we find ourselves flying in the clouds we need to remember that they are there by God’s permission. They are a great reminder that our life is to be lived not in the Outer Court but in the Holy of Holies … our life is hid with Christ in God (Col 32:3) and whatever happens, He caused or He allowed.
Luke 9:34 … there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. KJV
What is the cloud you are flying in now? Is it something you can’t see through and you are struggling to keep your focus and get to the other side; to fly straight and level? The answer is to come to the place where there is no one but Jesus. That’s where life becomes simple, the place where the focus is on seeing why He has you flying in the cloud, the place where He wants you to “unlearn” something and draw closer to Him.