Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

James 4:14

Have you ever wondered what life might be like without clouds? There are thick and fluffy clouds, thin wispy clouds, overcast clouds that hang low and gray, and clouds that seem to race by high in the wind. Storm clouds threaten violent weather; silver-lined clouds and the red clouds of sunset tend to promise nice weather ahead. Clouds give us relief from the summer’s blazing sun, and they bring the showers of rain that we depend on for crops and gardens. But they are ‘so normal’ that we hardly notice them. We take them for granted and rarely recognize the blessings they are for us.

Clouds are unstable by nature, always changing and shifting, forming new shapes and ‘pictures,’ always drifting from one place to another. The clouds of a hurricane define the extent of the huge twisting storm. These clouds dump such a drenching rain that they often produce disastrous flooding. But soon the storm passes; the clouds have either moved on or dissipated. The evidence of their passing, however, is apparent to everyone—but the clouds… they’re gone without a trace.

We are like clouds in some ways. What kind of clouds are we? Do people dread seeing us coming their way, or are they glad? Do we bring gloom and turmoil, or do we bring a cool breeze and a comforting shade? Do we leave destruction in our passing, or do we bring restoration? Unlike the clouds that are controlled by the natural laws that God created, we actually have the power to choose what kind of clouds we will be.

Like clouds, according to our verse above, we are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Unlike the clouds, however, we will not just dissipate, we are going to endure for all of eternity. Only the effects of our work will remain here. What kind of a cloud are we, and what effect are we leaving on those around us?