“Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who has perfect knowledge?”
(Job 37:16 NIV)
I’ve spent the weekend in a friend’s home, therefore the view from my devotions has been different the last two mornings. Today, I entered my moments of stillness after first noticing the clouds racing across the horizon. There’s a lake nearby and the cumulous clouds seem to be collecting and blowing over it. I closed my eyes and considered the Lord anew. Somewhere along my journey I’ve read that the average, fair weather cumulous cloud weighs just over a million pounds. Yet they are suspended above us day after day and none of us ever suppose that the unseen support system might collapse and crush us all.
Today I bear witness to these potential killers moving across the sky at a tremendous clip and I am reminded how our God moves mountains. Clouds are are a few of the many possible crisis’ that you and I never lose a wink of sleep over. Instead, we fixate on far more minuscule things, minor stuff that we are convinced could take us out at any moment. We let these insignificant concerns consume us: all the while the Lord is holding us back from certain disaster.
This scripture about the clouds is found in Job; everybody’s least favorite book of the Bible. When we are reading Job, we’ve got to pay attention to the speaker at the beginning of each chapter. While every person in Job is well-meaning, most of them are spewing poor theology. Chapter 37 features Elihu, though, and despite his youth, his acumen was beyond his years. He spoke of clouds and thunder and lightning and snow and ice and sun and heat. Elihu reminded Job that there are systems and physics beyond our comprehension. Yet, God sustains such structures day after day, year after year without so much as breaking a sweat.
When we awaken to the wonder of the natural world around us, we can adopt an entirely new level of trust. God has us, friends. He holds us. He carefully tends to the systems that sustain us. We can trust His good nature and His attention to detail. He will not abandon us but longs to live with us for all eternity.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though it’s waters roar and foam and the mountains quake and surge.” (Psalm 46:3-1 NIV)
Lord, please forgive us for our incessant worry about insignificant things. Today we realize how many systems exist and function flawlessly without our concern. Forgive us for all the time and effort we waste on things that are already in Your hand. Help us to trust Your affection and attentiveness. Let us relax and live in absolute trust of Your unwavering faithfulness. Amen.