A story is told of a man out west who had a fine spring that furnished him with sparkling cold water for his daily needs. Then one morning an earthquake shook the earth and ruined the spring. The owner was extremely upset with the loss of his spring, but the next day a big gushing oil well appeared to take its place. The loss of one thing brought him something greater. Many times God allows some loss to come to us that He might give us something better in its place.
Read: Ge. 9:8-17
God had just sent a flood that destroyed the earth and every living thing on it, with the exception of Noah, his family, and the animals upon the ark. It is understandable that Noah might wonder what to expect every time he saw a cloud in the sky. So God made a covenant with man that He would not destroy the earth with a flood again. Note that He didn't promise never to send a cloud, nor that it would never rain, only that He would not destroy the earth with a flood.
There would be many clouds, but along with them would come the promise of God. Note: verse 14.
It has been said that for every cloud there is a rainbow. But we have to be in the proper position to see it. When shadows fall on us, if we get in the proper position, facing Him, we can see God's love shining through. Tonight let's look at the ministry of clouds.
I. Clouds Come Into Every Life. "It shall come to pass..."
A. Joseph.
1. His brothers were jealous of him and that jealousy grew into hatred, as it usually does.
2. He wa first placed in a pit and later sold into slavery.
3. He had a right to say, "My life is a hard one, filled with many clouds." But his troubles had only just begun.
4. As an innocent man, being lied about and thrown into prison through no fault of his own, he had a right to think that God had forgotten him.
5. But, of course, God never forgets, and He didn't forget Joseph.
6. In due time God took a hand in the matter and Joseph was highly exalted.
B. Daniel.
1. He knew God's will for his life and tried to obey it.
2. What was the result?
3. He was cast into the lion's den to be killed.
4. A dark cloud settled over Daniel's life, but God remembered His faithful servant and prevented the lions from harming him.
C. Paul.
1. The clouds began to cover him on the day he met Jesus on the Damascus road and never cleared up until God called him home to glory.
2. Paul was persecuted unmerci- fully for Christ's sake.
3. He was beaten and left for dead.
4. He suffered mentally, physically, and spiritually as no man has ever suffered for the Lord.
5. The clouds were always there, but he endured it all for Jesus, knowing that "all things work together for ood to them that love God".
D. Us.
1. Our clouds of trials may seem light compared to these examples.
2. But they are not light when we are going through them!
3. God knows exactly what we are going through...and He will deliver us!
4. No follower of Christ ever escapes the clouds, but thank God, He provides the rainbow!
II. Clouds Come Only By God's Permission. Note: v14 "...when I bring a cloud"
A. God knows what is best for us.
1. He knows that all sun and no clouds only creates a desert.
2. If we never saw the clouds, we would never see the rainbow.
3. God builds our lives by adversity as well as by prosperity.
4. More character is built in sorrow than in success.
B. God is the "Divine Weaver"
My Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.
Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow and I in foolish pride,
Forget that He seeth the upper, and I the under side.
Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.
C. We ought not to fear the clouds.
1. Luke 9:28, "While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as the entered into the cloud."
2. God is in the cloud: Exodus 19:9, "...Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud..."
3. In Exodus 16:10, "...The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud."
4. Sometimes God sends the clouds in order for us to be closer drawn to Him.
III. The Same God Who Allows the Clouds to Come Also Sends the Rainbows. "...The bow shall be seen in the cloud." (God's Promises)
A. There is the promise of a safe retreat.
1. Note: Isaiah 32:2
2. The promise here is that we can retreat to Jesus and find a hiding place.
3. Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.
B. There is the promise to deliver.
1. Note: Psalm 50:15
2. He knows all about the clouds that overshadow our pathways.
3. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations..." 2 Peter 2:9.
C. There is the promise never to forsake us.
1. Jesus said, "...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." cf. He. 13:5b
2. Note: 2 Timothy 4:16-17
3. Paul said, "No man stood with me, but all men forsook me": there is the cloud.
4. "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me" : there is the rainbow!
D. There is the promise that someday sorrows will end.
1. Note: Revelation 21:4
2. In the midst of our tears, remember that the time will come when God's loving hand shall wipe all our tears away!
3. In Revelation 4:3 we read, "...and there was a rainbow round about the throne..."
4. On earth we see only half of the rainbow, in heaven we will see the whole!
Conclusion: In heaven everything will be complete. The clouds hover over us in this world and we don't understand why, but up there we'll understand it all. A young boy and his father were travelling and had to spend the night in a strange motel room. In the middle of the night the boy awakened, frightened by the darkness. "Daddy?" he cried out. "Yes, son," answered his father. "Are you there, Daddy?" asked the boy. "Yes, son, I've been here all the time." "Even in the darkness?" asked the boy. "Yes, son, even in the darkness." The boy sighed with contentment and dropped off to sleep.
The clouds will come, but be assured that our loving Father is still there, even in the darkness!