Have you ever received one of those emails: “This is a test“?
I was on a walk the other day. 
The sky was beautiful and I paused a moment and looked up at this beautiful cloud with its edges beaming with brilliant light from the reflection of the sun… as well as the brilliant rays of light beaming from the sun that was behind it.
Many times in our faith walk with Jesus, He rolls a cloud in upon us as if to say: This is a TEST– a test of your FAITH.
I was reading some commentary notes on Jeremiah 33, the chapter with a well known invitation from God, which says: “Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.”
Matthew Henry, writes: This word, as the former, came to Jeremiah when he was in prison (under a “cloud”).
And so we see that no confinement can deprive God’s people of His presence; no locks nor bars can shut out His gracious visits; nay, oftentimes as their afflictions abound their consolations much more abound, and they have the most reviving communications of His favor when the world frowns upon them. Paul’s sweetest epistles were those that bore date out of a prison.”
While looking at the cloud I acknowledged that the sun was still there, that it was still shining, and that soon the cloud will be gone.
And so it is when a cloud of testing comes: The Son is still there; He’s still shining; and His rays of light are still saying: I love you, I am watching you, I am with you, and I’m going to get you through this. Keep your trust in Me, listen for My voice, glean from My word and do what I say. You’re going to come out with more of Me, more experience, more character, and more compassion.
What really helps is to know it’s just a cloud of testing. And while some clouds are larger and wider than some other clouds, it will at some point in time pass away.
But what remains, is what God intended to happen in and through you while the cloud was there… provided you exercised your faith while it was there. If you did, your faith will be honored.
F.A.I.T.H. = Faith Active In Trials = Honored