Ten years ago today my
husband, surrounded by family and friends singing hymns and praising God, went
Home to glory after a three year battle with lung cancer. Five years ago this
month I was going through chemotherapy for the first occurrence of my
cancer. More recently I have had good friends in the church body and
family members with various afflictions and needs, some very overwhelming. One
day recently these thoughts were weighing on my heart and mind and I thought
how appropriate it was that the skies were gloomy and the clouds dark and
ominous! A few hours later, however, there
were rays of the sun shining from behind the dark clouds. By the
afternoon the clouds were a wondrous sight to behold with some settling in a
misty haze close to the earth while others were high in the sky. The colors in
the clouds were indescribable with a multitude of different colors (some of
which I wouldn't even know what to name) and varying shades of each! It gave me pause to contemplate in wonder the
Creator of those clouds. Searching
Scripture I realized that these clouds, and what God has to say about them,
speak a great deal of theology.
Truly the heavens do indeed
"declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork"
(Psalm 19). Nahum 1: 3 says, "His way is in the whirlwind and storm, and
the clouds are the dust of His feet." The Psalms talk about God speaking
to His people, Israel, in the cloudy pillar (99:7), making the clouds His
chariot (104:3) and giving the clouds as a covering (105:39). If the clouds are but the dust of God's feet,
what does that say of the magnificence of the God behind them as well as how
obscure His ways are to our vision and
understanding. C. H. Spurgeon said,
"Any more than an ant can ask an eagle why it flies in the sky can we look
at the clouds and ask why God does what He does." What do we have to fear as
we see great clouds when we know how small they are in God's view? What cloud hanging over our heads is so big
that we fear it when God Himself rides in the clouds above? Those are the same clouds that can't hold
back the sun!
Those clouds that seem so
gray yet shine forth the rays of the sun
also bring us showers of rain to sustain us.
God places in those same clouds the rainbow which is His eternal
reminder of His covenant promise to us (Genesis 9:16). As William Cowper says in one of my favorite
hymns,
Ye fearful saints
fresh courage take;
The
clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy,
And
shall break in blessings on your head.
(God Moves in a Mysterious Way His Wonders to Perform)
That being the case,
should we not welcome everything God sends our way; and though we may fear as
we enter into the cloud, believe in faith we will find God there where we will
hear no voice but that of steadfast love! Whatever the cloud, the voice of the Lord speaks in it--"Fear not!
when you pass through the water, I will be with you" (Isaiah 43:2) and
"I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Our
believing souls will be brought into perfect peace as our faith anchors itself on God--the tempest will subside one day, and there will be
a great calm.
To all my dear friends who
are presently overwhelmed by the clouds of affliction or trials of whatever
sort in your lives, may you remember today, the One who sits on His throne
Whose feet stir up the dust of the clouds!
May you remember that He is the one who orders those same clouds and will
also make them your sustenance from which come showers of blessing. May you rest in the "shadow of His wings
until these calamities have passed by," crying out to the One who
"performs all things" for you (Psalm 57: 1-2).
"I Sing the Almighty
Power of God" by Isaac Watts
There's
not a plant or flower below but makes your glories known;
And
clouds arise and tempests flow by order from your throne;
While
all that borrows life from you is ever in your care,
And
everywhere that man can be, you, God are present there.
Isaac Watts
COME,
we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join
in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
The
God that rules on high,
And thunders when He please,
That
rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas . . .
This
awesome God is ours,
Our Father and our love;
He
shall send down His heavenly powers
To carry us above.
And
here—before we rise
To that immortal state—
The
thought of such a world of bliss
Should
constant joy create.
God’s
saints have ever found
Glory begun below:
That
heavenly fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow!
