Singing--Part 4: Sunsets

Sunset over Denali Courtesy Google.com

I love sunsets. My favorite posts on Facebook are sunset photos. Due to the long twilights in the winter, as well as the mountains, sea, and snow, Alaska has some of the most awesome sunsets.
Clouds in the sky make the most beautiful sunsets.

As a teenager, I discovered a song, "Just Enough Clouds," by Bill and Gloria Gaither. It isn't one of their best known songs, but it struck a chord within me. The first couplet of  the chorus says: "I want just enough clouds in my sky to make a beautiful sunset." 

Even as a teenager, I had noticed that some elderly people were sweet and joyful, while others, even some Christians, were crotchety and grumpy. They seemed to complain a lot and seldom did a smile cross their faces. They worried and talked constantly about how difficult life was. I wondered what made the difference.

Grandma & Grandpa Personeus

I'd had a close relationship with my Personeus grandparents all of my life. They had spent their lives as pioneer missionaries in Alaska. Unselfishly ministering to people in need, they had often endured hardship and illness. Yet, the joy of the Lord was evident in their smiles and actions. They were always praising the Lord and telling stories of how God had healed them and supplied their every need.They were fun to be around. Children, teens, and adults alike loved to be with them

My freshman year at Seattle Pacific College, our dorm mother once asked us girls, "When are you going to start being what you'd like to become?"

That's when it all clicked. I wouldn't just suddenly become a sweet little old lady when the I got old. No, what I did and how I responded to life when I was young is what I would become, and even more so when I got old. I needed to start becoming then what I wanted to be in my sunset years.

The song, "Just Enough Clouds," goes on to say, "I want just enough tears in my eyes to make the rainbow appear." Rainbows are formed when the sun shines through the rain. The raindrops act like  tiny prisms refracting the white light into its spectrum of colors. It's the heartaches and tears we experience in our lives that, when given to God, soften us and teach us and allow the beauty of Jesus to shine through us. They mold us and make us what He wants us to be.

So don't be afraid of the clouds and tears and heartaches that come. Just remember Romans 8:28:

How can bad things bring good? The next verse tells us how:

The good is that through the things we suffer, we are conformed to the image of Christ. God uses the trials of life to make us what He wants us to be--like Jesus!

Yes, as the song says, "I want just enough rain and just enough pain to make me what He wants me to be." I'm not totally there yet, but that's my goal!

Click title to listen to Just Enough Clouds on YouTube.