He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. Revelation 3:5
My name is Dwight Alan Clough. Like most of you, I had no say in what my name would be—it was given to me at birth. A few years ago, I decided to do some research and discover the meanings of the names of each of our family members.
My full name, if you put it all together, means “a handsome light in the valley.”
It’s funny how things work out. I never would have imagined as a young man that God would call me to be a winsome light to people going through valleys of sin, sorrow and discouragement. I wanted to write novels. I wanted to be a college professor. I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur. I wanted to make movies. And I didn’t want to go through valleys of pain and discouragement. I don’t especially like pain.
But I didn’t learn anything worth sharing on the mountaintops of my own talent, skills and intelligence. It was in the valleys of failure, sorrow, tragedy and loss that I found the Man of Sorrows walking beside me. It was in the darkness of my own humiliation and distress that the Light from above came into my life.
I didn’t choose my name or my calling. They were chosen for me. But, as life unfolds, I see the wisdom in those choices. And there is wisdom guiding your life also, though it may now seem senseless and unfair; give God time, He will make it right.
Dwight
PS. “I’m not gullible, so I’m not deceived, right?” That’s what I thought for many years. Then I discovered how totally wrong I was. Smart, streetwise, good people are routinely deceived—I’m including myself, and I’m including you. On 7/20/2019, I’ll explain to our Inner Wealth subscribers why deception is so dangerous and how all of us have been deceived. I’ll explain how it’s possible to believe a lie even when you know it’s not true. And I’ll show steps you can take to get free from deception.
