I didn't have much going on in my head while out this morning so I did two things: first, I read some Psalms aloud. I recommend this to everyone. The psalms are prayers full of emotion and full of truth. Reading them aloud does things to you -- good things.
The second thing I did was just look around at creation. We live in a beautiful place. Full of creation quiet: trees, birds, wildlife, land that goes on forever; big skies, absolutely breathtaking to me. One of the things I looked at were the clouds. This morning those clouds were moving fast. They constantly changed, constantly made new shapes. I caught this one with my camera:
I see a butterfly. I don't know if you do or not. I love butterflies. They remind me of Maggie, my girl in heaven. They make me smile. So maybe it is my imagination going a bit crazy to see a butterfly.
I want you to think about clouds.
Do you know clouds mean a lot? They aren't just clouds.
When the Israelites were on their 40 year journey, God led them with a cloud pillar during the day. And scripture says that God was in a thick cloud (Exodus 20:21). Another time "a voice came out of the cloud." (Mark 9:7)
And scripture tells us that Jesus will come back in the clouds. Daniel 7:13 puts it this way: "And behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming."
So when you see clouds in the sky and you don't give them a second glance you are missing out. They mean God is here. They are a witness to God's presence in our lives. The sky is like a huge canvas that God is constantly painting on. It isn't a "it just happened" moment when you see clouds move or you see neat shapes in the clouds. Those clouds are God's work. And if we are open to it God will speak to us through the clouds. You might not hear an audible voice of course, but they are a witness to His constant presence.