When a cloud took Christ away...

 

 

 

“It was a sight to remember, when that stone was rolled away

And when we saw Him walk on water, we knew not what to say

Did not our hearts burn within us, as we walked along the way,

But I can’t forget what two men said, when a cloud took Christ away.

A fire of coals and some fishes, with bread and honeycomb

Prepared by hands with nailprints, by the sea He called His home.

What sad memories all these things would be, of times so long ago

If I’d never heard what two men said, when a cloud took Christ away.

 

I’ve got to go prepare a place for you, that where I am you’ll be

And when I’m gone, the Holy Ghost will come, I in you and you in Me.

And tho these words still bring me comfort here, I still look up each day.

‘Cause I can’t forget what two men said when a cloud took Christ away’'.

                                                                                      ---lyrics and song © 2000 Mary E Adams

 

 

Here I am again...old fingers itching to pound the keys to an old laptop, loving the inspiration that might evolve as I wait on Him

to give me something to share with you.

 

But today is different, friends.  Quite possibly, this will be my last article.  And it’s not because I’m quitting---but because I believe  you and I are both in a moment of time that is historic.  The picture above illustrates it very well.  You will recognize the setting: that time when Jesus left in a cloud and His disciples looked in shock and awe as they witnessed His departure, their thoughts leaving them grieving and saddened, thinking that it was “all over”. Suddenly, two angels suddenly appeared with these words:

“Ye men of Galilee.  Why stand ye gazing here?  This same Jesus will come again some day in like manner as you see

Him going.”

It would take quite awhile for them to adjust.  Soon after this, Peter would even announce he would return to fishing...others back to the old life, forgetting Jesus’ words that explained everything that would soon happen on the day of Pentecost, ushering in the power of the Holy Spirit into their lives. Luke, in the book of Acts wrote how this incredible experience would usher in Christianity to bless the entire world.

 

The Lord allowed me many, many years of sharing in so many places, with that same Holy Spirit leading and opening the doors.  My life has been thrilling and glorious, despite every impossibility that stood in the way.  I am now 83 and have now been on John’s “Isle of Patmos”--confined, but not silenced.  Because of age and physical limitations which affect our bodies, we  simply go on to a new assignment, leaving behind us a generation to carry on.    And what a comfort and joy to my heart to know I leave behind children doing just that.  

 

 

 Years ago, I wrote an article for my website and titled it, Just a matter of time. Tho it is still winter here in Alaska, we all await spring’s soon appearing. It fits so appropriately, I am sharing it with you again:

 

Just a matter of time...

So true. Here in Alaska, the long winter darkness is giving way to an ever-lengthening daylight...there is stretching in the dens, pushing and shoving underneath the sod, flapping wings now nearing the glide-path from a long migration; hungry bears emerging from their dens.  Spring is here!  The very air smells like LIFE!

 

The other day I dressed myself for Sunday church, then went to this computer to create a birthday card for Jody, a young man celebrating his 22nd.  All of a sudden, I could not see.  I was looking at things, but they were not there!  Imagine how frightening that can be...suddenly you are groping around trying to find your way to the telephone.  Well...I didn't go to church on Sunday, I ended up two days in Intensive Care at the hospital!

 

Here I was again...waiting on God to sort it all out. The blindness only lasted about an hour, and I experienced a brief headache, but then felt fine. And after lots of tests, it was determined I did not have a stroke, but had experienced my first migraine!

 

 

Most of you received these emails of mine for a couple of years while I went through two cancer surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and last but not least... a hip replacement.  Yet the Lord's grace was upon me and allowed me to spend four months overseas doing what I love the most...missionary evangelism!

 

One important thing I am always learning from these experiences is the truth of this statement:

 

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all".  (Psalm 34:19)

 

Sounds crazy...ridiculous, but what the Lord really says in this verse is that it is all "a matter of time". For no matter what our situation, how darkly we may grope about, how painfully we suffer, how exasperated we look at hopeless situations...God is at work to bring us deliverance.  Every time!

 

Right now, at the end of my driveway, is a virtual lake!  The big snow of winter is melting fast...faster than the ground is thawing; hence a body of water has formed, big enough to entice the returning ducks!  Quite an inconvenience, but it will slowly go and be no more...then the road will get dusty again and we will complain about it. Soon it will rain, and all will be happy for awhile....until it finally snows again and we put the car into 4-wheel drive and endure winter once more.

 

So you see, it is all a matter of time.

 

Solomon wrote about it in Ecclesiastes chapter 3:

 

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace"

 

He adds this important note:

 

"I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it". Yet incredibly,his very next sentence says:  "He hath made everything beautiful IN HIS TIME".

 

So you see, you and I will always be living out the seasons of life... every moment we live awaits these unfailing cycles, as does nature itself.

 

Storms come...some of them so intense we wonder if we will survive.  But oh the sweet smell of ozone that awakens our senses after it passes by!

 

Yes we can, just as a lovely mamma bear snuggles her new cub, sleep on in perfect peace, knowing that it's all a part of His plan to bring us out of the den.

 

It's just a matter of time...

 

 

MARY E. ADAMS

www.maryeadams.com

 

“When a Cloud took Christ away” copywrite Mary E. Adams