I once had the good fortune of seeing a beautiful sunrise in Iraq. I had been working 12-hour days in a windowless Operations Center in Baghdad, going to and from work in the dark. It’s only when I went to our alternate Command Post that I had windows from which to look out.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this, but for a sunrise to be genuinely spectacular, there must be clouds in the sky. Only cloudy skies allow us to truly see the handiwork of God. While it’s nice to have clear skies and sunny days, if clouds are on the horizon, you’ll see God perform a great work of art.

I’m not much of a cloud person. In Vietnam, clouds usually meant rain, and after three years in Vietnam over two tours, I didn’t really care if it ever rained again. I met and married Lynne after returning from my second tour. One morning on our brief honeymoon at a lake cabin in southern Michigan, we woke up to a gentle rain. She got all excited and said, “Let’s go for a walk in the rain!” Sorry, but that was a nonstarter for me! We have since worked through that, although I’m still not a walk-in-the-rain kind of guy. Lynne has since moved closer to my perspective.

In our current culture, sunny days are the “happy-go-lucky” days, whereas we relate cloudy, rainy days with sadness, disappointment, and difficult times. However, the Apostle James tells us, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4, ESV).

I never found that Scripture in any of the “pocket promise” books I’ve received over the years. No one “claims” the promise of trials and testing, but I think we can all agree they do come. How we deal with them is what sets us apart from the world. All too often we give new believers the idea that, once saved, angels go before them casting rose petals while the heavenly hosts sing hallelujah! When the trials come, they wonder what happened.

In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul spoke of the trials and difficulties he had experienced. But instead of being Debbie Downer, he summed it up by saying, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (4:17). The things we go through do not seem like “light momentary affliction” until we view them in the light of eternity. Paul went on to say that “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (v. 18).

I have to ask myself: Am I bringing God glory through my difficult times? I will if I “look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). He is my example! The disciples understood that. When they were called before the Sanhedrin and beaten for preaching the risen Christ, “they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41, emphasis mine).

If you and I will trust God in the storms of life, we will give Him the canvas on which He can paint a majestic sunrise after the storm has passed. Scripture tells us, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). If we are patient and faithful, God will work a Sonrise in our lives!

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!