Look up at the heavens and see…
Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. Job 35:5
June 7th, 2010, stands out in my mind as the people in Northwest Arkansas gazed in wonder at the clouds in the skies. Never have I ever seen the wonder of clouds with such awe.
From the time I was a child, my parents taught me the joy of laying on my back in the grass watching the canvas of the sky create fleecy white shapes of the familiar things. Through their teaching clouds were adorned with thoughts of God, our Creator
One evening, two years ago, I saw a sunset in the rearview mirror. The clouds were etched in sunset shades of brilliance. Then one dark cloud shielded a brilliance that became a metallic halo of silver and gold. As the car sped on, down a hill, the striking scene disappeared from my view but not my mind. Just as striking moments in my life appear for a short time – moments I will never forget, yet they fade, leaving a trail of wonder and amazement.
Will yesterday’s moment fade as well? As I drove toward the west watching the sky’s astonishing swirls of sea-like motion. It was as if God Himself held a paint brush and painted the sky with burgeoning grey-blue droplets of mist. I watched the ever-changing sky-storm of clouds. One young woman at the mall stopped to take phone-pictures of the sky – saying, “The clouds are like the waves in the ocean.”
I knew that the calm sense of science would describe these clouds with reason. It did. “A storm system moving across the Ozarks on Monday morning produced widespread interest for more than just the thunder and rainfall it produced. As the system moved across the region, the balance of instability aloft and a relatively stable low level airmass helped to produce what was likely a potentially new form of clouds now under review by the World Meteorological Society or WMO. The cloud type in question has been named, “Undulatus asperatus“.
Yet there is more. The day before, our church family sang a praise song that gripped my heart in worship of our Lord. I couldn’t sing, I felt joy filling my soul as the singing rose about me – Above All The words reverberated in my heart and mind…..
Above all powers Above all kings Above all nature
And all created things Above all wisdom And all the ways of man
You were here Before the world beganCrucified Laid behind a stone
You lived to die Rejected and alone
Like a rose Trampled on the ground
You took the fall And thought of me …. Above all
Returning from my errand, the words sang themselves in my heart as I watched the sky. I praised God for His mightiness and glory. And remembered the verse: “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 26:27-28.
Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
There are 163 references to cloud or clouds (biblegateway.com)…..God communicates through the clouds – promising that he will not destroy the earth – I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13.
God uses the clouds as a guide – By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Exodus 13:21
God uses the clouds as the promise of rain. Standing in line at the grocery store, I heard the clerk say – “I can’t believe this rain, it didn’t say anything in the paper.” I couldn’t resist saying, “I wonder if Noah said the same thing as he stood on the ark!” Long ago, before we kept our eyes on the TV, Ipod, internet, people kept their eyes on the sky.
God uses clouds as a conveyance and as a covering. He announced His Presence to the people of Israel – On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 19:16-17.
Psalm 18:9-13 – He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
Is it any wonder that these words of praise came to me ….
Great is the Lord….Open my ears to hear as you speak to me, oh God.Open my eyes to see as you show me your presenceOpen my mouth to speak, Give me your Words to sayOpen my heart to feel – Let me know your peace.Fill my being with your truth That I may know….It is well with my soul!
Comments? eacombs@eacombs@cox.net