Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His faithfulness endures forever. Psalm 136:5 NLT.
Everyone of God’s creatures on planet earth experiences the ways God reveals Himself in the sky. Each of us is given a new beginning every twenty-four hours. Plus, there is beauty and fury and wonder to behold.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Psalm 8:3,4
“Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge? Job 37:14 -16
My first memory of watching the sky was when I was seven years old. I had rheumatic fever and was being cared for at home and was on complete bed rest. My parents had to carry me everywhere. When the weather was warm enough, I was placed on a lawn chair outside. Sometimes the wind blew, dark clouds rolled in and I could see the underside of the leaves on the trees. I knew a thunderstorm was approaching quickly – and I’d just wait for a parent to come to carry me inside.
Many years later when I was married, we built our dream home. One of the important features was a large porch at the front of the house. We loved sitting there during storms; experiencing the rolling dark clouds, the rumble of thunder and the streaks of lightning. And sometimes, at the end of it all, a beautiful rainbow.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. Psalm 19: 1,2
I worked in Saskatchewan briefly on the edge of a small town and lived in the second storey of the nurses’ residence. If I sat on the upper landing of the fire escape, I could see for miles and watch the clouds drifting with the wind. It was a dance of clouds from horizon to horizon. Sometimes I could see rain falling in the distance even though I sat in the sunshine.
He who made the Pleiades and Orion And changes deep darkness into morning, Who also darkens day into night ….. The LORD is His name. Amos 5:8
I love sunrises,sunsets and the changing sky in the morning as the world wakes up. I worked night shifts many times through the years. I especially remember the wide expanse of wheat field in Saskatchewan slowly appearing through the pinks and oranges of the appearing sunlight. Year later, I would quietly stand in a patient’s room watching the the Calgary sky-line light up from behind. It was good to be able to pause for a few moments of peaceful quiet-time before the busyness of the end of a shift. And a glorious reminder that God would be in the new day!
Many of my years were spent near the Great Lakes. The sunsets on Lake Huron are amazing. I remember sitting among the reeds on a sand dune as the sun was setting…ever so slowly.. until…. it was gone. I was staying at a cottage alone for a few days, so this was a moment I was aware I shared with the Creator. The moving reeds, the coolness of the breeze, the “disappearing” day, the awareness of His presence — I remember it like it was yesterday.
When I was a young girl, our family lived on a farm. I remember staying up later one evening when my parents had company. We young-ones were lying on the grass watching for falling stars. There were too many stars to count. In the background, we could hear our parents’ conversations and the frogs at the pond. An endless expanse of darkness with twinkling stars above me, but it felt secure and safe. All was peaceful and calm and right with my world.
And sometimes I saw other objects in the sky. On the clear, crisp evening of the twentieth of December, 2006 between 6:15 and 6:25 pm, I first saw the space shuttle Discovery and then saw the International Space Station (ISS) as they orbited overhead. The International Space Station is a habitable artificial satellite in low earth orbit. The Space Shuttle was a crewed, partially reusable low earth orbit spacecraft. Several years later, when Canadian Chris Hatfield was in the ISS, I was living in BC. I was excited again when I could spot the ISS moving across the morning sky. I realized that the wonders of space travel were “exciting” but not “awe-inspiring” like it is when looking at a starry night sky.
God did not randomly and purposelessly create the amazing sky that has blessed me so much. Romans 1 says in verses 19 and 20 that ” what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made… God’s revelation to me in nature is an awesome gift that points me to Him again and again.
The awesome sky also makes Psalm 103: 10 and 11 a more beautiful promise. God’s love for me is immense, boundary-less and free. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; Psalm 103:10,11
As I write all this and think back on the memories I have, I have become more aware that is would be good to get out into nature more. I think that many who don’t know God have met Him unawares. God has given me — all of us – a great gift that calls us closer to Him. Thank God for His amazing love!
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