Clouds.

"And provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour."

Isaiah 61:3

Now I can trade these ashes in for beauty. 

I was driving today. It was early in the morning and I wasn't looking forward to the day ahead. As I looked out; I saw the pain my day was to be filled with. I contemplated the stresses of the day and I focused on the heartache and trouble that just were laying in wait for me.  

Then my eyes caught a glimpse of something. It wasn't the sunshine but the clouds that caught my eye. Splendorous, magnificent colours radiating from and around the clouds. Vibrant blues and glorious purples. The glory rays shone down making the reaching hand of God visible to the naked eye. I caught a peak of heaven. Nothing that can be described except for a landscape painted by the very had of God. 

In this moment I got a glance into the mind of God. For a brief second I took in the very breathe of God and had complete clarity. An instant flash where time stood still and life made perfect sense. I saw clearly the picture He had broadcasted in the skies for me on this humble morning. 

Without those clouds, without those dark spots in the sky there would be no way to show off the majesty of the heavens. A clear blue sky wouldn't have reflected the colours of God that brilliantly. Without those blemishes in the flawless blue skies the beauty wouldn't have been showcasing the magnificence that God was fully capable of declaring. 

God revealed to me the picture of my own life. The vibrant colours of red, green, pink and purple. The spectacular shades of orange and splashes of yellow. An image too wonderful for my own eyes. A display that even the angels stopped to view its brilliance. 

He zoomed into the dazzling display. I saw moments of my life presented as fabulous colours and miraculous shapes. The twinkles that shimmered the brightest, where the most glory was blazing from caught my attention. It wasn't the times were I was the happiest nor even when I felt the most loved. It was those moments where God seemed the furthest, but I cried out for Him the loudest. The times where I was hurting beyond compare but still searched for His face. The sleepless nights when the last thing I wanted to do was trust in His almighty plan, but did so anyway. It was the moments in the story where I praised Him in the storm that gleamed the brightest in this panoramic manifestation of my life.  

It was in this brief moment of clarity where my life was made complete, where I felt alive and whole. I realized that those moments that I had considered black marks; that I wished to erase, those were the moments where the heavens sang along with me. I noticed that the times that I seemed so lost and confused, demanding comfort from the Lord is when the angels came in a helped paint the picture. It was those whispers of faith and trust in my scariest moments that popped from the painting. It was those times where I said Lord I want to give up because I have nothing left, but I will come before Your throne one last time that shimmered so intensely with colour I knew that the Father Himself must have done His finest work to paint it.

It changed me. It refined me. I gave me a new outlook on the picture of my life that I thought I knew so well. I got the immense privilege to see it through the eyes of the Lord and it wrecked me. Wrecked me from my old way of thinking; my prideful ways of despising the dark shadowy moments of my life. I saw these moments how God viewed them: a battle valiantly fought in the heavenlies. A victory over Satan and a conqueror under Jesus' name. I realized finally, that God noticed the fight I was fighting. Not only did He notice it, but He was proud of the warrior I had become. 

My entire story written in the heavens, exposed for the world to see and His voice proclaiming that He was well pleased in His daughter is what I saw today. I say once again, thank you Lord for opening my eyes and ears it is a privilege to call you my Father. 

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple."

Psalm 27:4

"Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary."

Psalm 96:6