Everything moves, changes, and becomes something new. It’s happening right under our noses, every day, every moment. Our bodies are changing, growing up and growing older. Our relationships are changing, in response to our daily actions. And our minds and awareness are changing as we are exposed to new ideas, and as we absorb and respond to the lessons God is teaching us. And even though it happens right in front of us, it seems gradual. We can miss it–unless we take the time to stop and actively look.
The sky is always in motion, always shifting, transforming. The only thing like it on this entire earth might be the ocean. Both the ocean and the sky express emotion. We are concerned for the sailors heading into an “angry sea,” or we envy the pilot who is able to fly into a “tranquil heaven.”
The sky expresses emotions and thoughts that I have trouble putting into words because they are more feelings that thoughts. Ideas are there in the mix, but they, too, can be difficult to put them into words because they are compressed. It takes a moment to perceive, but a long time to communicate.
But God knows our thoughts right in the moment we think them, and he even sees through to the motivations of our hearts.
My brother, Dan, created a meme and sent it a few days ago.
Dan knows I love the clouds, of course, and the verse he used, speaks of God seeing our thoughts and emotions. The King James Version translates the second half of this verse, “the righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins.” God tests our hearts–what we really love–and our reins–what controls us, or what drives us.
God sees it all in real time. I have often done something and later wondered, “Why did I do that?’ or “Why did I say that?’ But it’s no mystery for God. He understands us and our complex, conflicted hearts perfectly. He wants to know us, and he wants to heal us and bring us clarity. He is a God of order.
The more I notice the sky, the more I realize how close it is. They sky is part of the air around you. Our weather is moving into the early fall, and as part of that we get fog in the morning. What is fog but a cloud that touches the surface of earth?
God is near us, around us, planning things for us, and loving us. I find it mind-boggling that God actually waits for us. We are supposed to wait on Him (Proverbs 20:22), which means literally to wait for God to take care of certain things (like justice, revenge), but also, we wait breathlessly just to see Him. It’s like waiting for your beloved, your darling, the one who excites you with his presence. For who could excite us more than the One who made us with His hands?
“I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they which watch for the morning.” (Psalm 130:5-6)
Have you ever stayed up all night and looked for the dawn? I have. And those nights are so very long. It’s like being held in a prison of my own thoughts, and I fight against the fears that seem to rise so easily and become so out-of-proportion during the night. But the morning does come, so I hold on. And when the dawn comes, it is always beautiful. And the events the precede it are amazing, too!
Once you begin to get a glimpse of Who God really is (and we can only do that once we shed the silly myths and fables we have heard since birth, ideas that belittle Him, or give us the idea that we can judge Him), we begin to get an inkling of his amazing greatness. He is above all, both literally, and in every other way. His thoughts are higher than ours. His presence would destroy us if we were to view him in these bodies without special protection. There is nothing greater, more beautiful, or more powerful than God. But to those who oppose Him, there is nothing more terrifying.
“From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.” (Isaiah 43:13 NLT)
And while some of us wait for God, He is still waiting for those who are lost. God is waiting for them to find Him, to know Him, and to become His. He doesn’t want to lose any of us to our foolishness, to our pride, or to our rebellion. He knows we are deceived. So He gives us every chance, and for now, He is still waiting.
And part of how He shows us who He really is, is through His creation: He left his fingerprints all over it. When you see the power of what God has created, through the forces unleashed during a storm, for example, you begin to understand the power of God, which is so much greater. He truly has the whole world in His hands.
“For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts. . .” (Psalm 95:3-8a)
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20 NLT)
So why is the sky blue? Because God made it blue. And even the blue sky is part of the evidence that God is close to us.
When Moses, along with the “nobles of Israel,” were summoned to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, it was a joyous event. They ate and drank when they came to the foot of the mountain, celebrating the giving of the law, because it gave them direction; they wanted to understand what pleased God. They craved His blessing.
But at that time, they all saw God! (Exodus 24:10-11)
This was a very big deal. Earlier, God warned Moses to “charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.” (Exodus 19:21) And so the priests and elders who came to the foot of Mount Sinai with Moses, had sanctified themselves. And the scripture points out that “upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand.” (Ex. 24:11) In other words, God protected them, even though He knew what they were like, and even though He knew what they were going to do! (Exodus 32)
And what did they see?
“And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.” (NKJV)
Can you imagine a more beautiful pavement than a work of sapphire, like the very heavens in its clarity? Blue, blue sky.
“Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool’. . .” Isaiah 66:1
The prophet Ezekiel saw God, too, in a vision. But his view was a glimpse of actual heaven, and so was more complex.
Above the firmament (which is described as a “terrible crystal” in the KJV (Ezekiel 1:22) or an “awesome crystal” in the New Living Translation), was what looked like a throne made of sapphire, and upon it was a figure in the shape of a man. But this was no mere man. Above the loins, He was “the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within,” and below that, fire. And in the brightness around Him, “the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day.” (from Ezekiel 1:26-28)
It’s no wonder when I look up into the sky, I immediately think of God. “Heaven” is defined as “the blue over our heads,” “the place where God dwells,” “a wonderful feeling,” etc., and all of those meanings go together.
Hebrews says “Our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:9) This is said as a warning, not to underestimate God, or take him for granted. We must not forget, in our enjoyment of His love, Who He actually is. He is, after all, God.
And He is glorious! We won’t be able to stop ourselves from wondering at and proclaiming his glory when we see Him face to face! How beautiful He must be; too amazing for us to comprehend!
The sky is always in motion, the clouds moving when the wind beckons them, the sky itself, changing color as the sun moves across, and later, when it is night, the sky changes again with the moon and the stars. God gave all these things to us “for signs and for seasons, for days and years.” (Genesis 1:14)
What a glorious foreshadowing of Himself God gave us, when He made this world! I hope this has inspired you to praise and obey Him, and when you see the sky, to give glory to our great and righteous God!
The Fullers Four 