Today I am flying to America.
I love travelling. I really enjoy the whole process of tucking the maximum possible number of things into the minimum amount of space, travelling to the airport, checking in, hanging around…yes, I even enjoy queuing for the security scans etc.
I like the anticipation of going somewhere – somewhere new, or somewhere familiar – the knowledge that soon I’ll be tucked in my seat with nothing to do for a whole day but think or read or watch movies.
But most of all, I love the moment when the plane noses through the grey, drizzly clouds and up into clear blue skies, flooded with sunshine. It amazes me every time. Whatever the weather is like on the ground, somewhere up above the rain, drizzle, fog or snow it’s a beautiful day.
I need to be better at remembering this. It should be a constant source of hope to me. When the task looks too great, the obstacles too numerous, the clouds too thick, I need to remember, not that God will reign tomorrow, but that he is reigning now. He is above the clouds, ruling over the opposers and the indifferent, fully in control, today and always.
I wonder if that’s what Jesus was getting at when he said that the Kingdom of God is here? Looking around at the way things are – pain, misery, suffering, poverty, injustice – it is hard to believe that God’s reign is anything more than a future dream.
Our culture looks around and fails to see the presence of God in evidence, so they assume he is not here, as the lyrics of their song indicate.
But just as surely as the sun is shining even when utterly concealed, God is reigning, even when his presence seems utterly distant.