Clouds

I've always loved looking at clouds & the sky. (Growing up on the water helps that love!)

Recently, we've had some marvelous clouds & sun interaction around H'burg. Here's an observation I've had a couple of times lately looking at the clouds rolling in bringing afternoon rains. Think of the darkest, scariest clouds you've encountered. Fearsome. Unsettling. Unnerving. Plain ol' scary. And sometimes the storms burst upon you. And even cause destruction. In such times, it's easy to forget that the same summer sun is still there. Even when you can't see it, nor feel it. Even when the clouds may cause you to wonder if that sun will ever shine again. It will. I assure you, it will. You should bank on that, not because you read it here; rather, because of Him Who promised to never destroy the earth again by flood.

I initially wrote this the Saturday before the 1st course of IL-2 began. I had planned to post it during that week. But the clouds boiled over into a full-blown storm that resulted in the passing of a great friend into glory. Let's try again, shall we? (note: I've edited this a time or two...or 6...since the initial--right now, for example, it's Sunday at 7:00 a.m., and I'm on the back side of IL-2 round 2. Those clouds are beginning to break up...)

It's now Monday evening at 9:30 p.m., and we're in the ICU. As of a few minutes ago, I am hooked up to various apparati to monitor most everything. Freedom is gone...*sigh* We've spent most of today @ MDA, which means storm clouds on most people's horizons around us. Now, I'm in the ICU seeing the clouds begin to boil directly around me. And a storm's coming. Beginning tomorrow morning. But here's the thing to remember, and to pray for me to remember. Above the clouds, there is my Lord, ruling and reigning over the entire universe. Including the clouds of IL-2 and melanoma. And whatever clouds are hanging over you at the moment. Just as surely as the sun still shines beyond the clouds of a summer storm when it can't be seen, He is there. Jehovah Shammah...the Lord Who is Present. Hallelujah! More surely than the sun's shining, actually, for He caused the sun to begin to shine, and will one day render its shining irrelevant:

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Rev. 22:5

Let's pray for each other to look past our situations to the One Who filters it all through His loving hands. And Who enables us to hold up under the strain. Jehovah Shammah.

"Let the dark clouds rise...let the storm winds blow...there is safety, there is comfort in Your arms....Jesus...You are faithful...You are able...You are strong..." That's a song we sing on occasion in church.

Thanks for your prayers for me right now! Please remember Lisa as she's facing these clouds too. Plus, James & Anne have to look thru these clouds from 7 1/2 hours away. And Mom & Jim & his family from farther away yet.

With Love and Hope,
Mike

p.s. - a great friend posted this in a comment yesterday:

Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 1.

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own,but belong—body and soul,in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him,Christ, by his Holy Spirit,assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

This type stuff means a lot more, I'm sure, in a situation like yours.

(back to Mike) Yes it does, Norman. How very much we take for granted in terms of core theology, consigning it to the realm of "pastor stuff" or whatever. And how very vital that core theology about God and salvation and redemption and providence and such becomes when the clouds gather!

God, forgive me for pushing Your Word and Your ways into a nice, tidy corner and leaving them there most of the time totally untouched. Grant that I would delve deeply into You at all times and not just when my way is obscured by clouds. Forgive us all for outsourcing things theological to our pastors or favorite authors. Help us say with Paul, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord,or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen." Father, may our very beings erupt in this same sort of praise and wonder and adoration regularly as we ponder daily anew Your work and Your Person. Maranatha!

p.p.s. - "When peace like a river attendeth my way...when sorrows, like sea billows, roll...whatever my lot, You have taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul..." (written by Horatio Spafford on the occasion of the passing of his daughters in a shipwreck; re-read that--the passing of his daughters...can there be a greater tragedy? And yet, how many times have we sung "it is well with my soul" on absentminded autopilot??)

p.p.p.s. - Thanks Norman, for the reminder that sparks these ramblings. See you at some football games this Fall, Lord willing.