A WORD FOR TODAY, May 9, 2022
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, May 9, 2022
“Praise Yah, for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and fitting to praise him. Yahweh builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. Yahweh upholds the humble. He brings the wicked down to the ground. Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving. Sing praises on the harp to our God, who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains.” Psalm 147:1-8, WEB
I visited an art exhibit that was focused on artists who paint the sky. The exhibit had dozens of paintings made with all sorts of materials. Each artist was unique in the way they viewed the sky, but one thing that was common among at least most of them: they saw the hand of God in the heavens. The exhibit is called “The Heavens Declare,” and it was obvious from many of the titles that the artists saw the heavens declaring the glory of God.
I followed an artist on Facebook who lives in the wilds west of Texas. His property is extensive so there is nothing to block his view of sunsets and sunrises. He posted photos almost daily of the beauty he saw. You would think that it would get boring after a while, after all, how many sunsets can you photograph? The thing is, every sunset and sunrise is different. The sky is constantly changing and is never the same. The clouds are new every moment as they move and the light changes.
Clouds are fascinating for that very reason. We know that when we look at the sky it will never be the same. We look for figures in the fluffy white clouds, and we search for the rainbows that appear after the rain. We are amazed when the clouds cut through the colors of a sunset. Those who are in drought look to the clouds for relief and those who are experiencing flood pray for the clouds to go away. No matter what we see in the sky, whether clouds or sunsets or rainbows, we can praise God that He is so involved with His creation that every moment is new.
I confess that there are times I wish everything would stay the same. There is comfort in consistency. There is security in a lack of change. The Bible tells us that God does not change, but we live in a world that is constantly changing. We are comforted by the fact that the unchanging God is with us, and He is glorified by what we see in the sky. The clouds promise rain even if we do not know when it will come. Though the sunset leads to darkness, the sunrise promises a brand-new day. The sky reminds us to praise God because it is His hand that paints the heavens, and in the glory of the skies we can see His presence in the midst of our lives.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org
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