I find clouds fascinating. They can be wispy and gentle, they can “march”. They might be small and solitary against an otherwise perfectly blue sky, or they can inspire our imagination (“It’s an alligator” . . . “No, it’s a boat!”). The can be threatening and scary. They can look like rain. Clouds are fascinating. So, says Judy Collins anyway – You have to look at them from both sides!

I am only bringing our attention to the clouds so that I can bring attention to the sun. Without clouds – without darkness – the sun goes largely unnoticed . . . always doing what it is supposed to do. Shine. Provide warmth. “Light our path.” When clouds threaten to seemingly extinguish our celestial light, we set our eyes above with anxious hope, longing for it to break through.

This is Dave Scherrer and we are having a Backyard Conversation. A peaceful but meaningful, engrossing conversation about things that have ultimate meaning. I think these conversations are best done with iced tea and lemonade after a very large barbecued meal. Sitting, thinking, challenging, talking, persuading, laughing, disagreeing, imploring, maybe even agreeing.

We get to thinking that the world is dark and difficult. And indeed, life is relentless. We get to thinking that if I work hard enough, throw enough money at it, lose enough sleep over it, life will adjust to me and my expectations. That was never going to happen regardless of your best efforts. That is a fool’s game.

In a book I am writing (maybe almost done), I make a point in challenging the paradigms we hold to. “Truths” we hold onto that were never really all that true. We can invest very dearly in half-truths for much of our lives, never really testing to see if the path that it leads to is worth following. The imagery of light breaking through the darkness of the clouds is profound.

The truth is, God is breaking into our lives ALL THE TIME! His plans are working around us in an invisible and yet eternally substantial way. When we experience the so called breakthrough of the light in the darkness, we take notice. We say that was a miracle. But the reality is that the sun has been doing what the sun does all along. Truth does what truth does!

Our lives as Kingdom Citizens are not to be so much reading our Bible and writing in our journal and going to church and throwing a twenty into the offering place. Those are good practices as far as they go of course. But what Christ asked us to do when we encounter various trials of darkness was to simply abide. To be present with Him, as He indeed never left our side.

Life in the Kingdom is about experiencing His righteousness and laying aside Kingdom treasures in pursuit of that Kingly righteousness. We do that through simple acts of mercy and prioritizing justice. We do not learn our way to Heaven.

The life of the Kingdom Citizen is less like studying to deliver a book report for a seminary class and more like lingering with the host after dinner, deep in intimate conversation.

Comparing notes of life. Souls touching souls. The Light of the King and His Kingdom breaks through the darkness and it turns out that . . it was never not there.

This is Dave Scherrer and we just had a Backyard Conversation. For more conversations about the Kingdom, check out www.100foldministries.org.
Thanks for chatting!