Higher than the Clouds
When you look up to the skies, do you remember seeing the
dark clouds closer to the earth moving by at a fast pace, then looking beyond those
darker clouds to the cumulus clouds way up in the sky with very bright white
tops bubbling up like huge cotton balls?
This morning, when my eyes popped open praising Jesus
because He could see all things while our vision is limited, that image popped
into mind. Too often, those dark, gray
clouds block our vision and that is all we see, darkness. It is then perpetuated by the words we speak – I hate my job, My boss stinks, There isn’t
any happiness in the world, I’m always so broke, I’m always so sick, etc. We can’t see beyond what is the ‘here and now’
to realize there is something more out there.
Then, there is a small break in the grayness and we can see
the smaller clouds are part of a bigger system by seeing the huge, bubbling cumulus
clouds seemingly raise to the top of the atmosphere, often with a bright blue
sky as its back drop. That image in my
mind brings great joy because the colors are so vibrant and the majesty of what
is going on in those clouds is astonishing.
Sometimes, as the sun is going down and it starts to get dark, we can
start to see the incredible energy in those cumulus clouds, knowing whomever is
underneath it all is probably getting pounded.
Isn’t that the way of life?
We are under this mass of cumulus clouds knowing there is a beautiful bright
blue sky somewhere up above. But when we
are getting pounded, all we see is the torrents of rain and all we hear is the
rumbling and clapping of thunder. In
those moments, our thoughts are far from the bright skies above.
In between us underneath this mass, and those bright blue
skies, is this war raging between two systems.
In the case of the actual clouds, a war of warm vs. cold, put very
simply. But in the case of our lives, it’s
a war of good vs. evil – God vs. Satan.
Who wins that war literally depends on us. We are the ones who change the storm by the
words we speak. Matthew 18:18 (NKJV) “Assuredly, I say to
you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus says it again in Matthew 16:19 (NKJV) “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed
in heaven.”
The power of the tongue releases life or death:
Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) Death and life are
in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 12:18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for
necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
And all of this is available to us because of the horrendous
death Christ died, for us! He sacrificed
His life so we could live. He was the
last and ultimate sacrifice.
So, in sitting up this morning to a bright, sunshiny day, I
was praising my Savior because sometimes I get blinded by the grimness of this
earth. The disease, sickness, poverty, addictions,
rage, murder and so much more. But I was
reminded that if I only focus on the gray, I’ll never think to look up and see
the bright skies trying to peek through the grayness. And even if there isn’t any brightness peeking
through, because some days are just plain black, I am reminded there is a God
WAY bigger than our darkness on this earth.
And we can push back that darkness by worshiping and praising the King
who sits on high. But if we continue to
speak the darkness, we give darkness power where it should never be given
power. We keep our minds and our hearts
in darkness. It makes us forget
about
the bright shining light above the war being raged against our souls,
that Bright Shining Light who is VICTORIOUS of ANYTHING we may be going
through.
Knowing this makes it easy to understand Phillipians
4:4, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
