(Martha Ann Smith) "The Lord hath His way... In the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet" (Nahum 1:3). One morning, I was on board a plane flying toward Nassau in the Bahamas. The sun had just risen and the patchwork of streets, houses and farmland below was fascinating. This was my eighth plane trip, but I never cease to marvel at how tiny life is when looking down "from the top". Moving objects, which were once so large when
	viewed close up, now had lost their distinction in the pattern of larger things. I thought, "Now I can 'imperfectly' see life from the viewpoint of God!" Looking from this new angle, I wondered what His thoughts were at that very moment. Abruptly, large dark clouds came into sight. I had never seen them so thick! "We could go under them or over them," I mused. "Certainly the pilot wouldn't plough through them!" I watched closely, expecting to feel the powerful tug of our plane climbing higher, or the breathless drop of a nosedive. But much to my dismay, the clouds drew nearer and the pilot did nothing! All at once a thick misty haze rolled past my window, concealing even the nearby propeller-motor. I quickly looked all around me, but saw nothing except the grey-coloured haze that grew darker every moment. I became anxious for the safety of everyone. The sun could not possibly be seen, and this dense moisture-screen hid any glimpses of land from sight. Something tragic could easily happen. But a special thought began to calm my fears: "The pilot is well-trained and responsible. Certainly he knows what he is doing; and besides, he uses a compass which is not likely to go wrong!" With my confidence restored in the pilot and his wisdom, my misgivings faded away. Suddenly the plane began to soar higher and higher, until I thought, "Surely we are flying above these threatening clouds!" But we only soared down again in the "valley" of an air pocket. Air pockets came, one after the other, until I thought that I would never feel like a normal human being again. Then, just as suddenly, we flew into the "eye of the storm". We were surrounded by the storm clouds, but we were no longer in the storm. The safety of the aircraft soothed my anxiety. Slowly, the clouds were left behind, and the sun shone once again. It bathed the lovely scene below in a brilliant hue. The patchwork after the storm was even more beautiful than before. What if clouds like these are the real storms in life? What would happen if you had been the traveller? Remember, the Pilot is our Saviour, and the compass is His Word! He will never fail you, no matter how terrible the storms of life!