In a Cloud?

I read two chapters from Luke’s gospel this morning. The first from chapter nine. The context is the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus had taken with Him to the mountain Peter, James, and John:

“Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” (Luke 9:32-35)

Sometimes a cloud is the best place to be to hear God’s voice. It’s the best place to be when we are unable to see where we are or where we are going. We must fly, as it were, by instruments.

For me, the ‘instruments’ by which I ‘see’ Jesus and receive His direction, is the Scriptures. Since receiving Christ in 1972 and until this very moment, it has always been the Scriptures that have been my guide out of the clouds.

The role of the Bible in my conversion story is not too unlike that of St. Augustine’s conversion story. As he wept in a garden, enveloped in a cloud of grief and uncertainty and fear because of his many sins, he heard a child’s voice call out: “Take up and read. Take up and read.”

At those words, he rushed back to the place in the garden where he had laid down his Bible. When he opened it, his eyes fell immediately on these words: “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:13-14) *

Suddenly, in a moment, his clouds of spiritual darkness vanished. He was a new man, knowing where he was, where he had been, and where he was going.

But, back to my story of what God said to me this morning. After I sat awhile considering God’s lesson for me in chapter nine, I turned the page to chapter ten. An expert in Mosaic Law asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answered, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”  (Luke 10:25-26).

In other words, Jesus said to the man, “If you have questions about where you are, where you were, and where you are going, then go back to the Book for your answers. In it you will find what eliminates the clouds that obscure your view of God and eternal life.”

Jesus didn’t need to quote the Psalmist: “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Jesus didn’t need to quote it because the lawyer – as all Jews of his day – already knew the passage.

Are you in a cloud of doubt, or fear, or confusion about what is right and what is wrong? Have life events and the culture obscured your vision of God and His commandments and His direction for your life?

Go back to the Book. Patiently, consistently, and prayerfully persevere in reading the Scriptures. Study them. Meditate on them. God the Holy Spirit WILL bring you out of your cloud. He promised to do so.

*(You can read more of St. Augustine's story here: https://ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess.ix.xii.html)