Reflecting God’s Love

It is the morning of the winter solstice. I am up early enough to
see the sunrise. The sky is cloudless. There are narrow bands
of color: pinkish to gold to pale blue. As the sun comes up, the bands widen a bit, but no brilliant colors are to be seen. What is it that makes some sunrises so striking with beauty and brilliant color? I’ve come to the conclusion that it is the clouds. Not so many to be overcast, but enough around to reflect the sunlight even with the sun is not yet up.

Then I got to wondering about God’s love. We speak of reflecting God’s love to others. If all is going well (our life is cloudless), then maybe the love we reflect is just there — like the unremarkable sunrise. If our life has problems (clouds are there), and we are trusting God to help us through, does the grace and love He sends bounce off us (like the sunlight) with extra brilliance? Maybe that’s why Paul says, “for when I am weak, then I am strong” (end of verse 10). Paul also says that one of his life’s problems (his thorn) is there to keep him from being conceited (verse 7). When others comment on the brilliance they see in us, it is easy to forget to whom the brilliance truly belongs.

— Barbara Carter