Air Show on a Wednesday Afternoon
29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion? Job 36:29 (NIV)
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills. Psalm 147:8 (NIV)
Not long ago, I sat drowsing in my hammock, letting the mild afternoon
breeze gently carry my thoughts far from the hue and cry of every day
life. I was in that delicious state found between waking and sleep;
literally thinking about nothing at all and absently staring off into
space. I lazily watched a pair of hummingbirds flit from branch to
branch in the gnarled old bottlebrush and took languid note of the deep
blue shade of the afternoon sky. My hammock was positioned with a
tree-covered slope on my left and the big sycamore tree in the front
yard towering to my right, giving me a very limited view of the
cloudless sky.
In Temecula, it is common during spring and fall for a dense cloud
bank to come rolling in from the distant coast in the late afternoon. It
is an impressive show, reminiscent of the arrival of an unnatural
monster-movie fog. This not-so-sinister cloud bank usually thins and
scatters as it hits our dry, semi-desert air, providing us with some
lovely sunsets but rarely dimming our ever-sunny skies.
On this Wednesday afternoon, I could sense that the time had come
for the clouds to make their inland surge, even though only a mere
slice of sky was visible overhead for my gazing pleasure. I watched a
small cloud scud by and then another and another. I glanced to my left
to see if the rapidly moving little clouds were piling up into something
significant and I was astonished to see nothing but blue sky! Not even
a wisp was to be seen. Perplexed, I looked to my far right, watching
for the next little cloud to blow into my line of sight. But what I saw
was not at all what I expected.
As I stared intently at the blue sky, waiting for a cloud to roll by (I was
quite alert by now), I saw a fantastic sight: a lovely little cloud formed
right before my eyes. It took form quickly and then rapidly blew
inland, to my left. Following its progress across my little pie-slice of
visible sky, I saw it dissipate as quickly as it was formed, just before it
would have left my sight. As I watched in wonder, this occurred again
and again. Dozens of perfect clouds came into being and then
vanished right over my head. Within a few minutes, the show was
over and the sky returned to its original state.
What a mighty God we have! On that extraordinary Wednesday
afternoon He gently reminded me of His limitless power by giving me
a wondrous gift... a heavenly air show, just for my entertainment. Our
God controls the very heavens and His might is beyond our imagining,
yet He is a loving God, who has provided for us not only the vast
spectacle of His glorious creation, but has saved us from our sinful
state through the innocent suffering and death of His son, Jesus
Christ, our risen Lord. That is love beyond measure, given to us
because we are His children, undeserving but yet forgiven. With a
God of such power and might on our side, how can we fail when we
live and act in accordance with His will? When our heavenly Father
loves us enough to send His son to save us, how can we doubt that He
walks with us every moment of our lives? And finally, when clouds
can be formed and dispersed in a matter of seconds just for my
personal wonderment, I know without a doubt that my Father has both
the power and the intention to work mighty things in my life and yours.
2008 Elizabeth Williams
29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion? Job 36:29 (NIV)
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills. Psalm 147:8 (NIV)
Not long ago, I sat drowsing in my hammock, letting the mild afternoon
breeze gently carry my thoughts far from the hue and cry of every day
life. I was in that delicious state found between waking and sleep;
literally thinking about nothing at all and absently staring off into
space. I lazily watched a pair of hummingbirds flit from branch to
branch in the gnarled old bottlebrush and took languid note of the deep
blue shade of the afternoon sky. My hammock was positioned with a
tree-covered slope on my left and the big sycamore tree in the front
yard towering to my right, giving me a very limited view of the
cloudless sky.
In Temecula, it is common during spring and fall for a dense cloud
bank to come rolling in from the distant coast in the late afternoon. It
is an impressive show, reminiscent of the arrival of an unnatural
monster-movie fog. This not-so-sinister cloud bank usually thins and
scatters as it hits our dry, semi-desert air, providing us with some
lovely sunsets but rarely dimming our ever-sunny skies.
On this Wednesday afternoon, I could sense that the time had come
for the clouds to make their inland surge, even though only a mere
slice of sky was visible overhead for my gazing pleasure. I watched a
small cloud scud by and then another and another. I glanced to my left
to see if the rapidly moving little clouds were piling up into something
significant and I was astonished to see nothing but blue sky! Not even
a wisp was to be seen. Perplexed, I looked to my far right, watching
for the next little cloud to blow into my line of sight. But what I saw
was not at all what I expected.
As I stared intently at the blue sky, waiting for a cloud to roll by (I was
quite alert by now), I saw a fantastic sight: a lovely little cloud formed
right before my eyes. It took form quickly and then rapidly blew
inland, to my left. Following its progress across my little pie-slice of
visible sky, I saw it dissipate as quickly as it was formed, just before it
would have left my sight. As I watched in wonder, this occurred again
and again. Dozens of perfect clouds came into being and then
vanished right over my head. Within a few minutes, the show was
over and the sky returned to its original state.
What a mighty God we have! On that extraordinary Wednesday
afternoon He gently reminded me of His limitless power by giving me
a wondrous gift... a heavenly air show, just for my entertainment. Our
God controls the very heavens and His might is beyond our imagining,
yet He is a loving God, who has provided for us not only the vast
spectacle of His glorious creation, but has saved us from our sinful
state through the innocent suffering and death of His son, Jesus
Christ, our risen Lord. That is love beyond measure, given to us
because we are His children, undeserving but yet forgiven. With a
God of such power and might on our side, how can we fail when we
live and act in accordance with His will? When our heavenly Father
loves us enough to send His son to save us, how can we doubt that He
walks with us every moment of our lives? And finally, when clouds
can be formed and dispersed in a matter of seconds just for my
personal wonderment, I know without a doubt that my Father has both
the power and the intention to work mighty things in my life and yours.
2008 Elizabeth Williams