I've traveled by airplane many times but the experience I had on August 8, 2015, after ascending into the clouds was like no other. To say it was eye-opening seems like a cliché, so I'll say it was revelatory. Truly, it did reveal something about my understanding of the weather and the sun. More importantly, it gave me greater insight into my personal view of God.
Sitting on the LAX runway at 6:30 a.m. it was not only too early for me to be up flying anywhere, but the sky was so overcast with a grey blanket. The sky didn't have me in the best of moods because I wanted to see the sun. Instead, it looked like a storm would be rolling in. When we received clearance to take-off my mind was just flooded with the thought of needing some sun to pick up my mood.
As the plane climbed higher and higher into the sky, I realized that the thick grey blanket I was seeing was the clouds so mashed together that I wasn't clearly seeing the sky. And of course, as I'd seen during my past flights the clouds were like a mist to this vehicle but I'd never experienced flying in this type of weather. Not only did the plane break up this grey blanket it ascended to a place that was so bright with the sun. As a smile stretched across my face I thought, "Oh, so the sun IS here." It seems as if I had barely formed that thought before God's inner voice to me spoke, "That is how I am with you Charlotte. When you don't sense My presence I am here, you just need to elevate your thoughts to My level."
I can't tell you how often I had been in situations where I just felt like God's presence was so far from what I was going through. Just to sense His presence is what I needed to get a sense of hope in my situation. But I came to realize that when I let negativity and what my human eyes can see cloud the truth, I lose sight of hope. I make myself to believe that God has gone somewhere far from me when in fact I need to connect spiritually with the truth so that I can get above my cloud of doubts and anxiety.
Whether you put much stock in God, spirituality, or some other methods, I hope you realize that true peace is living above the clouds of despair. Our eyes will always show us what is readily visible, but they never reveal all there is.
