Morning Devotion

We all like silver linings.

I’m talking about that figure of speech that describes a positive outcome or perspective when we find ourselves inside a dark cloud of turmoil or despair.

A man falls off a ladder at home, breaks a leg and has to deal with lingering pain, physical therapy, medical bills and perhaps lost income. Sounds like a dark cloud but then doctors tell him that the blood tests and bone scans found early stage cancer that has a 95 percent chance of being removed because it was found so early.

Without his mishap, the cancer wouldn’t have been discovered until it was far more advanced and far more difficult to remove.

This sort of thing happens all the time.

This is a major-league silver lining.

I’m sure that you’ve found a number of silver linings during your life. I’m also sure that you, like me, have failed to discern a silver lining or two because of being overly focused on what we had lost rather than what we had preserved or learned or even were in a position to gain.

Perhaps you’re in a dark cloud now at home or at work or with your extended family or even in your spiritual life. Please remember that God allows trials to come upon believers so that they’ll rely more upon prayer and scripture as ever-present spirit boosters.

God also wants to see “overcomer” lessons learned that will help during the next dark cloud and make the believer more sensitive to helping others stumbling around in dark clouds.

There’s another BIG reason God allows the dark clouds — it gives our faith a chance to shine.

The Apostle Paul is the poster child for finding silver linings.

Actually, he excelled at turning silver linings into gold linings.

How did he do that?

By not only looking for the positive potential amidst the dark fog, but using it as a springboard for ministry.

You see, persecution magnified the impact of His messages because others knew that most people would have complained about unfair treatment and would have given up.

Not Paul.

He would just press in even more to minister for the Lord.

I love how Paul found a gold lining in the dark, dark cloud of his days of Roman bondage.

Of course, you know that Paul went through hell on earth during the trip from Palestine to Rome where he would plead his case — actually, the gospel — before Caesar. When he arrived there and was placed into house arrest with an armed guard by him at all times, Paul found that golden lining.

What happened in the midst of that “dark cloud” bondage?

Paul started inviting people to the house where he was locked up and he started preaching and teaching, week after week after week.

“And no one tried to stop him.” (Acts 28:31)

Wow. The last verse of Acts describes something that had never happened during all the years that Paul preached as a free man.

He was constantly being told to stop preaching or was being beaten or whipped or whatever just to get him to shut up.

But in the bondage he found the freedom to speak without restraint.

That is a golden lining, my friend. Golden because it promotes the gospel.

Please, sanctify your silver linings into golden linings by using them to promote the gospel.

As always, I love you
Martin

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Tags: attacks, endurance, faith, grace, humility, Our words, Patience, testimony