Clouds

I was looking at the clouds during the evening hours. Then through the clouds to the sky. There was a storm roll through the other day. The clouds then were just stunning (see the picture). A friend took nearly the same photo, of the same cloud, from her house. My husband commented while staring at the moon the other night, as clouds floated past, that Jesus looked at that same moon.  He wondered what Jesus wondered when he looked at the moon and the clouds. Or did He wonder? Since he was there when they were created, they might not hold any wonder and awe for Him. After all, He is FROM heaven. He lives WITH and is PART OF God.

The other night I was thinking about the layers of clouds. Our vision is blocked by clouds and distance. We can't see the sun, only a glimpse of it. There are layers and layers between us and the sun, us and the heavens, us and God. I watched as the clouds rolled past, covering then uncovering the bright blue sky. I have flown, both long and short trips. The plane sometimes flies just above the clouds so you can't see the ground from the sky. There are times where the plane is in the middle of the dense clouds so you can't see anything but clouds. Other times the plane is so high you just can't see much of anything, clouds or not. But those on the plane know the ground is there. They have faith that they will land on solid ground at the appointed time.

As I looked at the clouds, I noticed layers and layers of them. The sun was on its way to setting and was blocked from view by trees and dark, dense clouds. Just above that there were more clouds, less dense clouds. Layered on top (or closer to the earth than the sun) were more wispy clouds stretched from over there to very near. Then patches of bright blue, with cotton candy clouds stretched across the sky. Some bright white clouds that looked like cotton balls were randomly spread over the bright blue expanse. These clouds were really high up because they were still reflecting the bright setting sun. The edges were brightly shining silver lace. Some rays of sun still glinting through.

The sky was dark and bright, bright blue and almost black, dense and wispy all at the same time. The sun was going away and coming up at the same time - someone on the other side of the world was watching the same sun start their day, perhaps with same type of cloud-filled sky.

That is the way life and God are. There are times when we can't see anything but clouds, times when there is only blue sky, times when we have to have faith that God will help us land, when we can see glimpses of hope. God is amazing. He is in all of that. He is there... and here. He is far away and right next to you. He is responsible for the dense clouds and the bright blue sky. He meets us where we are and reveals His magnificence to us when He knows we are ready or when we need it.

There are a lot of layers between us and God.  Some are there to protect us, warn us, illuminate us. Those layers are of God's design. We need to make sure that we don't add layers of our design.

God, thank you for your magnificence and for meeting us where we are.  Thank you for the layers and for removing them at just the right time.  Amen.