Recently Gaylon and I spent the day at Dauphin Island, Alabama, celebrating our granddaughter Alana’s birthday.  It was such fun!  The girls had no idea we were coming.  They heard a knock on their hotel door and opened to find Papa and Granny standing there!  The excitement and giggling made our day!

On Saturday morning we went down to the beach for the day.  Alana loves the beach, so her parents granted her wish for a beach day.   From the car to the beach was quite a hike, as we walked to the end of the pier, and then down a flight of stairs, and across the white sand. 

After bathing in sunscreen, and getting things set up, we settled in for a fun day.

Did you know there is very hot sun at the beach?  It’s true!  Very hot sun!  I didn’t plan very well, because I rarely get in the sun anymore.  I definitely should have brought a beach umbrella. 

As time passed, I got hotter and hotter.  The girls were having a blast, and I enjoyed watching them and helping them look for shells.  I watched as their mom helped to build a drip sand castle.   These girls were so happy.

Did I mention that the sun gets very hot?

Time seemed to go in slow motion after the first couple of hours. The sun was beating down on me, and I wanted relief.  Finally, clouds came into the area, covering the sun’s hot rays.  There was no rain, just a cloud cover, and it stayed for quite a while.

That cloud cover was my best friend that afternoon. 

Yet, there were others who wanted the clouds to go away. They wanted the hot rays beaming down. To them it was a part of the enjoyable day at the beach.  Those seeking tans wanted the rays to come back.  They were praying for clouds to go away, and I was praying for clouds to stay.

To one the cloud was a blessing, and to another the cloud was a nuisance.

Sometimes when we pray about situations, it’s easy to pray for an answer that would be a blessing for me.  Yet, we forget that God is listening to millions of prayers, and is orchestrating how they will be answered, and the timing of those answers.  I’m praying for clouds to bring relief, and someone else is praying for clouds to go away. 

Praying takes more than faith; praying also takes trust – trust in a God who is working all things together for my good, but also for the good of others who are praying.    It takes trust to believe God knows when the clouds are a blessing, and when they need to be gone.  

In life there are clouds of disrupted schedules, unresolved issues, family issues, health crises, daily stress, unsettling moments, problematic people and just plain old aggravation.  My prayer is:  God, take this away!  Is He listening?  Absolutely!  He is also orchestrating the greatest use of the clouds of life.  My cloud that is a curse might be the very cloud that blesses another to see this great God that we serve. 

Are the clouds rolling in on you?  Trust God to use them and remove them as He determines.  “Yes, clouds will come. They are part of the fabric of life. But by God’s grace we need not be depressed by their presence. Like the misty billows that float above us, they protect us from the brightness of the sun; they reveal the glory of God, and from their lofty height God speaks to us. Like the children of Israel, we are travelers to the Promised Land. As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, the Bible says, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way” (Exodus 13:21).” – Billy Graham