07/29/2025
Are there clouds in your life, and if so, what do they look like? Are they the big billowy white ones that we typically see on a bright summer day? How about the thin wispy ones that stretch out as if forever? Or are they the dark churning clouds that tower into the sky and are filled with lightning and ominous rolls of thunder? God is in the clouds, all clouds, and how does He come to you in them today?
“And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.”
Exodus 16:10 ESV
God is not a cloud, but He clothes himself in the clouds. His disposition is evident when He presents Himself by the type of cloud that surrounds Him, but the clouds that surround His glory always inspire our awe. God reveals His presence and teaches us of Himself from within the clouds. He shows us He is pleased in the puffy white ones, demonstrates to us His displeasure in the dark ominous ones, and forewarns us of His anger in the dark flashing storm clouds.
“And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.”
1 Kings 8:10-12 ESV
We have all heard this saying regarding someone who doesn't seem to be fully with us, but appears to be somewhere else... "He has his head in the clouds!" Most of the time the person saying this isn't paying the subject of this observation a complement. Yet, in spiritual realms there could be no higher praise. How I long to kneel at the feet of God and put my head in the clouds.
“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
Nahum 1:3 ESV
So, as we read scripture, we find that God and clouds often go hand in hand, but what of those times when the ominously black storm clouds enter our lives? The days of darkness and trouble that we dread and fear. The days of pain, suffering and mourning... is this God? Am I being punished for something in my life? This is a question that has been asked by men and women throughout history, and not just Jews and Christians.
I don't know his faith, but Haruki Murakami, a modern Japanese thinker who is greatly influenced by western culture, said this of experiencing storms in life...
"When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about." - Haruki Murakami
This Japanese thinker had stumbled in his life upon a truth of faith... God teaches us in the hard times; He teaches us the "hard" lessons of life and faith, and they change us forever. The night my father died was one of the darkest of my life, but in the midst of my grief and pain I learned the true depth of my love for him, and the lessons he taught me were sealed forever within me. God does this with our faith too... during the day after my father died I cried out to my Heavenly Father in my despair, and for relief from the pain. Even as I was discovering the depth of the love I had for my earthly father, I was marking the depths of my faith, and the love I held for my Heavenly Father. He comforted me in the midst of that dark cloud. And He blessed me as Jesus promised that He would in the beatitudes as my faith was strengthened, not diminished, and I was comforted.
“As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!"”
Luke 9:34-35 ESV
And Jesus said this…
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4 ESV
Clouds can scare us because they block our vision and disorient us... they can make us feel vulnerable, and we fear being out of control. Yet, wonderful lessons come in clouds too, and the fear is often unfounded. "This is my Son", and "He is coming". Wonderful proclamations and images are clothed in clouds too…
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”
Revelation 1:7 ESV
We have all kinds of encounters with God as we walk the way of our faith and with Jesus Christ. The clouds billow around us as His Word is revealed, and the truth of His constant presence is witnessed in them. I love all the days that God fills with clouds. I revel in the light wispy ones, the billowy white ones, the ones that look like something to my imagination and that mystify me. I find strength and wonder in clouds, and often I hear God's voice from within them. The challenge is not the dark storm clouds, the challenge is in overcoming the fear, suffering, and pain that life brings by grasping His hand amidst the lightning within them, and hearing His voice over the roar of the wind and crash of thunder; but once we do this... we will never be the same again... the rain will purify us, and the vine, that is our faith, will grow because that is the nature of storms. Are we trembling today at the approach of a dark cloud? Are we mystified by the images we imagine seeing in the ever-changing summer clouds? Are we in awe while viewing those that rise up so high we feel they must be touching heaven? What are the clouds revealing to us about God today? Are we even looking for Him there?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the storms in my life. Thank you for coming in the midst of my darkest hours in all your power and glory to teach me of yourself and seal your lessons within me. I thank you Holy Father for the rainbow on the back side of every storm, your hand that turns my face towards it, and your Spirit that gives me understanding of it. Leads me Lord to witness you in the clouds. I thank you not only for the intense lessons of storms, but for those bright sunny mornings when I lay in the meadow with my head in the clouds and ponder your presence as I watch the cotton puffs drifting by. On those days I am at rest, finding myself surrounded by your peace and joy and know that you are my God. I pray for the day when Jesus comes again with the clouds, and I wonder about how magnificent that day will be. I close my eyes and attempt to imagine it, but alas, I can do no justice to the spectacle. Lead me, Father; lead me before the still waters, and make me lie down in green pastures... still my heart and strengthen my spirit on those days so that I will fear no evil when the storms approach, for you will be with me in the clouds, always, even in the midst of raging storms. Before my greatest fears and hardships, I will grasp your hand Father and praise your name aloud above the roar of my doubts. From the storm clouds you will perfect my faith as iron is strengthened in the furnace of the forge, and within the midst of each and every storm I will praise you. Holy, Holy, Holy are you my God who reveals yourself so completely to me in the clouds. Holy are you who shows me your every emotion through them, and sometimes in their absence. Open my eyes Lord and let my ears be keen to your voice. Abba, see me in the clouds of my face and find my heart in the tears that fall from my eyes. These are my clouds that reveal my emotions, these are my joys, my saddest days, and even the storms I find myself caught up in, but in all of them I long to be with you. I long with all my heart, soul, mind and strength to be there in the clouds with you, eternally with you between the heavens above, and the earth here below as you teach me to reconcile myself through Christ with you. Pour out your grace upon me like the rain and teach me to hear your voice as you speak from within every cloud. Comfort me and teach me to find rest, even in the silence of a clear day. Praised be your name Holy Father, now and forevermore! Come now Lord Jesus and catch me up in the clouds that will accompany you on that day! Take me to be with you in the presence of our Father amidst the clouds!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen!
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV
Rich Forbes