Turn Black Clouds into BIG BLESSINGS I am basically writing this devotion to speak to myself today. I am going through a tough time right now where the devil is constantly piling more and more black clouds on top of my head. It seems every day I turn around the devil has added five more steps for me to first fall down and then climb my way back to the top again. I know that God is testing me and building my faith. I know that God only gives me what I can handle, but sometimes the human body feels weakened by the stressors of life and falling on our face seems easier than expanding your faith. I felt so lost yesterday as the mounds of pressure that kept piling up more and more. I was hit with three major life changing things yesterday alone, and it just exhausted my ability to see through tears. I cried & prayed all day long. I fell over and over into the trap of my life in chaos thinking, “I will never get out of the mess,” but that is exactly what the devil wanted me to do. My God wants me to know that whatever I face, whatever the challenges may be, he is right there. He has already written my life story, he knows my testimony by heart and whatever I am facing he has already handled. I have to build my trust up to where God sees that I am pushing forward with my faith and whatever hits my plate I throw it back off with the words from Joshua chapter 24 verse 15, “…but as for me and my house we WILL serve the LORD!”
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest.
I was driving on my way to work this morning and every time I look at a car tag a verse jumps out to me made up of the letters & numbers on the tag. This morning it was 1 Corinthians 5:4, “When you have gathered together, I am with you in spirit.” I knew that everything was working for through Gods amazing plans. I still felt down, but I prayed for thirty minutes last night for God to bring comfort and peace during these trials. Not for them to necessarily dissipate completely because I want to grow through struggles to increase my faith, but for the strength to keep pushing forward during the discomfort. After I saw the verse and while listening to Joel Osteen’s sermon on “Under my Feet,” I prayed for God to show me a visible sign that I was going to be okay, my family was going to be okay and that he was working in our lives. My visible sign was to have a bird fly eye level in front of me while I was driving. I finished my prayers and within two minutes I tell you that not one bird but almost ten bird’s, one right after another flew eye level right in front of me. I knew at that very moment that it might have just been a bunch of birds to the driver beside me, but for me it was my visible sign from God that everything will work out and for me to keep my head up high.
James 1:3-4 You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. 4Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won’t need anything.
So I get to work and spend the first part of my morning listening to uplifting words of Gods amazing love and I start feeling a little better. I pray and just try to remain steadfast in my faith and completely relying on God to take me from this moment of despair to the next moment of glory. Every day is not going to be easy and for the most part life is very problematic. No one seems to care about your issues only their own. This world is motivated by selfish gain and I could never say that enough. If you need a few extra days to pay your power bill the person on the other side of the line probably doesn’t care because they are not in your shoes. They have not had to endure the black clouds you continue to face over and over again. They could be sympathetic, but hearing the same old stories day in and day out their heart can become numb to genuine concern for a struggling family.
About 3 years ago I forgot to pay our power bill, it was summer, August I believe. I didn’t realize the power had been turned off until I got home at 6 o’clock and we could not get in the house because we enter through the garage. The front door and the glass storm door stay locked from the inside all the time because my husband goes on night shift every other month and we keep it locked for safety. So I pull up with the kids, it’s hot and we are exhausted. I push the garage door button and nothing, I knew at that moment what had happened. I immediately called the power company and they would not work a thing out with me. Instead of paying the past due balance of $150 they wanted me to pay the entire balance that was due of $300 plus a $500 dollar deposit. So at 6pm I had to come up with $800 dollars to get my power turned back on. I had to go and borrow the money, put it in the atm deposit and call them to make the payment. When I called them they were so rude to me, I cried and cried. They told me that the office was closed and they couldn’t guarantee my power would be back on that night. As I sat outside in the heat with my two kids & my husband I couldn’t believe the person on the other end of the phone couldn’t have one ounce of care or compassion.
Luke 6:31 “Do for other people everything you want them to do for you.
We all forget things from time to time. We had power with this company for going on 7 years and think of all the money they had already gotten from us and we needed this one favor. She informed me that the guys that come around at night that cut the power off were in the area and they “might” be able to come by and turn the power on, maybe, by midnight. We got in my car and went to get some dinner, came back and ended up breaking the screen on the door to get in. The house was blazing hot; the kids were fussy and tired. I was emotional and my husband a heart patient who did not need to be in the heat sat in a chair in the driveway until they came to turn the power back on. I called at 8pm and they said our power was already on, but it was not. They lied to me six times before I got a manager who told the truth and said the guy would be there at 11pm. At midnight our power came back on and all he had to do was take 30 seconds to flip a switch. My point in this story is the person on the phone had lost her ability to care, to have compassion. No matter how many times a day we have to go out on a limb for someone we do it over and over because God tells us in Luke 6:31, “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”
Hebrews 13:1-2 Continue to love each other. 2Don’t forget to show hospitality to believers you don’t know. By doing this some believers have shown hospitality to angels without being aware of it.
I had a black cloud that day and I realized that no one can make the cloud go away but God. God is control of every single situation that enters your life whether good or bad. He is the one who tells the sun where to rise in the morning and set in the evening. God plans all of our days and he develops us from within based on where we are presently. God gives small tests to the new found Christians and larger tests to those whose trust has multiplied due to abundant blessings bestowed upon their lives. God wants us to grow and groom. To grow through struggles and then groom ourselves to be able to help mold others through our reflection of the hand that guides our life. I was reading one of my favorite devotions from a girl that just speaks to my heart this morning and a phrase caught my eye, she said, “more is caught than taught.” I started pondering that and really thinking about it and it is sooo true. Our actions teach more than if we taught the story verbally. How we handle ourselves through adversities reflects how we trust and believe in the God we have never seen. I know for most people believing and ultimately relying on someone you have never laid your eyes on can be hard. That is the ongoing struggle for Christians around the world, because the world is visible and it offers the now, the fixes, the instant material gratifications, but it doesn’t last. It satisfies you for the moment, but when the fix is settled and the dust has blown away the deep issue, the root of your true problem still exists and it is not fixed. You merely covered it up. I work on a road that has potholes in it; there are about 3 really big ones. They come out and pave over it, but the problem still exists and lies beneath the asphalt. Within a week the potholes are back again because the road is heavily traveled. Just like with our problems if we do not release our black clouds and issues to God so he can reveal the root of the problem, then the problems will manifest themselves bigger and bigger. You will eventually have potholes in your life where only materialistic things can cover, but God can complete. Let God take the problems, if you cannot make it better or erase the issue or even handle the issue, let it go to God. The best advice I have ever been given was, “when you do not know what to do that is your cue to pray.” Do nothing unless you have direct led advice and spiritual scripture from God to lead you.
James 1:12 Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
If someone asks you out on date it’s okay to say I need to pray. If someone tells you off during the day it’s okay to walk away and pray. If the bills are piling up and you cannot see a way out its okay to stop and pray. If your children are running you ragged with screams and flips off the couch its okay to stop and pray. Whatever you are doing or whatever you are being hit with you have the right as a child of God to make no sudden movements either by body or by mouth before having a word with God. You have the right over the air you breathe in every single day to stop running around and take five minutes to speak to the Lord. Don’t be so consumed with your life and the black clouds that seem to be raining down on you that you give the devil more of your attention with fear than you do faith to God. God knows where you are at and the devil could care less. The devil is dancing around, laughing because you have fallen to your knees. He simply thinks you have so much on you that you cannot stand up. That is exactly how stupid the devil is, he is oblivious to the fact that Christians hit their knees as a form of respect to our Heavenly Father. We hit out knees because we are showing God that he is first and foremost in our lives and he is our rock and fortress, our guided direction and faith. When we bow our head and pray to our Father in Heaven, he sees us humbly bowed before him and it delights his heart. Bowing our head in prayer awakens the spiritual emotion of surrender in us. This in turn activates the positive spiritual energy within you that makes you feel lighter or gives relief from symptoms of physical or mental distress. It is ultimate gesture of respect and pure humbleness.
Luke 14:11 Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who humble themselves will be honored.”
So no matter how many black clouds you see forming or brewing today, just know that God already knew they would be there and tomorrow will be better. I wasted so much time and energy yesterday crying and worrying about the sudden onset of black clouds, things I had no control over. I am a sinner, not perfect and just like everyone else I fall off course from time to time and need the assurance of Christian friends to pick me back up. I reached out to three friends today who uplifted me with voices of praise. I prayed numerous times, spent time in Gods word and medidated on why I let the devils foot into my life yesterday. The only thing I can come up with is that I was tired, worn completely out from my surgery last Thursday to the anticipation of another surgery on Monday. So if I can offer any advice from my experience yesterday, when you are tired the devil is increasingly messy with our lives. So get plenty of rest, plenty of Gods word and plenty of friends to help you wash away those black clouds.
Remember everyday cannot be cloudy, sometimes the sun just has to shine.
God Bless you ALL,
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