How many time have we heard “Every cloud has a silver lining” while we were growing up? I know I have heard it most of my life, especially after a loss or disappointment. I think it was one of my mothers favorite sayings.
Being a kind of science guy, at the age of ten, I quickly realized and smartly responded “Silver is a heavy metal so clouds, being primarily water vapor, there is no way silver could be lining the clouds.” Yes, I was a nerd and I guess I still am.
We all have had rough times in our life’s, a few hard bumps, a few disastrous incidents. How we managed to overcome them still makes us wonder, but we did overcome and grew up in spite of it all.
My mother always said there is a silver lining in that cloud and one day you will understand why things happen this way. My mother, very much my grandfathers daughter, was a wise person and taking much after my grandfather had a lesson hidden inside that message. For most of my life I took it to mean to be tough, don’t give in to it and continue down your path, one step at a time, to reach your goal. It was not always that way though. Sometimes I would feel like just giving up and go hide in a dark room somewhere, other times I would just turn around and walk off in disappointment.
After my little pity party and why me, which sometimes lasted for weeks, I finally woke up and started putting my act together working towards my goal one step at a time. I finally realized that these bumps in the road were challenges for me to overcome and these disappointments were opportunities for me to grow. I’m sure many others have had the same or similar experience.
Much to my surprise, as I continued to grow, I learned there is not a silver lining in these clouds of disappointment, but there is a silver thread. This silver thread is connected to every experience of our life and when we tighten our grasp, we are shaping our character. In other words we are who we are because of how we handled the good and bad times in our life’s. We shaped our life and built our character by how well we handled the bumps and pitfalls as we grew up.
As a Christian I learned God would never give us more than we could handle and we were never promised life would be an easy walk, but He would be there to guide us. I admit there were times when I really questioned the validity of that, but I have learned He is always there to help me over or around the obstacle in my path. That is the lesson hidden inside the statement “Every cloud has a silver lining.”
There may not be a silver lining in every cloud but there is a silver thread and how you face that disappointment in your life is shaping your future and your character. How do you handle disappointment and how has your disappointment shaped your life? I really would like to hear about it. You can comment here in the reply area or, if you don’t want my readers to know, you can e-mail me at efchristi2@yahoo.com. Either way please respond.
Walk daily with God at your side!
Love always,
Ed
Ed Christian's World 
Ed, I really liked this. I love the idea of a silver thread instead of a silver lining. A thread that tethers us to the Lord through all the circumstances of our lives. Good stuff, Ed.
Thank you Larry, I really value your opinion. I want to share the lessons I learned from my grandfather and parents in my early years, hoping others could see the value. Growing up on a reservation seems more like the easy life.
I see the idea of the silver thread as well and it’s a concept I think I internally accepted and learned when I re-committed my life to Christ. When I decided to try to live a daily life as Jesus would have me, I knew it would be challenging. Strength is there when I remember who I am, and who God is in my life. Every experience, good, bad, mediocre teaches me something eventually. I’ve seen how these are all interconnected over time, now looking back. Great post, Ed!
Thank you for commenting Adrienne. Your opinion is very important to me.
This post along with my earlier post, A Simple Life, is designed to show people just how close God works with us as Christians. I don’t think most Christians realize this and they continue living their life’s as though nothing matters. Believe me, God is listening and watching over our every move.
It is not a matter of trying, it is a matter of living your life as Jesus would have you to. It is easy to slip, but it is much easier to think before you act.
God bless you and J!
Ed
There is a silver thread that ties us back to Him. Instead of the phrase “He doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” I will have to disagree with you. Instead, I see it as, “He doesn’t give us more than we need to turn to Him, for Him to handle.” Everything He does is to bring us to Him, so that we may let His Glory shine. That, is my silver thread.
Thank you for your comment Dianna. I agree all things tie back to Him. Since I turn to Him for everything, He never gives me more than I can handle.
May His glory shine through all of us.