Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

One of the songs that plays in my head sometimes is the old song, Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone. It is one of those bluesy songs that talks about the absence of a loved one.

Absence--it seems as though God is absent sometimes. Or maybe another way of looking at it is when you call God, you are put on hold. Isn't that irritating? The other day I called someone and before I could say anything, I was put on hold. I think they ought to let all the people put on hold talk to each other while holding. Many problems could probably be solved that way. And why do they call it hold? Are you supposed to grasp something while holding on?

Some say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Whoever thought of that must have had a loved one that was better at a distance than close. Distance is not seen as a desirable quality for those who want intimacy. Imagine telling your spouse that you love them so much you are driving five hundred miles away from them.

All of this is to say that nice cute sayings sometimes leave us with emptiness. Sadly people will tell their friends and neighbors when a tragedy happens, it was meant to be this way. Whatever happens happens for a reason. Help me contain myself when I hear this. I want none of this to be the way that we describe the character of God or the actions of God.

The only way that we experience the absence of God is when we impose it. When we impose it, there seems to be little sunshine in life. For you see, I have come to believe that in some of the darkest days of life, the only sunshine we know is that God is present. Perhaps we do not feel it or even know it, but our inadequacies are not limiting the reality of God.

I experienced this one day when flying to a far away destination. When the plane was taking off, there was a terrible storm. I thought that we would be flying in terrible weather all the way. But then it happened. The plane lifted us up into the clouds. We passed through the clouds and then I saw what was otherwise unseen. Above the clouds the sun was still shining. It was a rather beautiful sight. It reminded me while I thought the sun was absent, it was only hidden.

Do not let the blues of life's absences be confused with the character and actions of God. God is with us! God is working for good in all things!