Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God, "How awesome are Your works!" -- Psalm 66:1-3 (NASB)
Last night after I returned from teaching defensive driving in Burnet, TX, finishing up my paperwork and having something to eat, I was tired and sitting on the sofa half watching the NASCAR Nationwide race I had recorded earlier and reading the email that had accumulated during the day. I sat back on the sofa to take a break from email and it hit me that God has provided so completely for my needs. What a feeling of joy to know my God provides.
This morning in Bible Fellowship before the worship service, we were studying in Ephesians at a point where Paul praises God the Father. At the end of the lecture, our instructor asked a good question: Do we praise God enough? She echoed what I think is the response of many of us: No, we don't. We spend more time asking and less time praising.
As I drove home after the worship service, I got to thinking about the praise issue. God provides our needs and answers our prayers. Shouldn't we thank and praise Him? I think most of us do thank and praise but I suspect if we all sat down and listed our requests and our praises side by side, we'd find the request list would be way way longer than the thanks and praise list. I think we should work very hard on reversing that situation.
One way that I praise God is through clouds. I know, that sounds a bit weird. But, I don't think it is. I really like clouds. There are so many different sizes and shapes and colorations and speeds of movement. I associate clouds with God. They are especially noticeable when I'm driving to Burnet or Marble Falls fairly early in the morning on the days I teach defensive driving there. Traffic is usually light so it's a great opportunity to look at the clouds and praise God for their beauty. Just so you know I'm not cloud centric, I also use that opportunity to praise God for the many beautiful (and some not so beautiful) things in nature, for example, trees of many kinds, grasses (especially those that wave gently in the fall breezes), cows and horses and dogs and cats, huge mountains and delicate little flowers. His creations are many and varied - not to mention us. The Creator is amazing.
Back to clouds. God created clouds, but he used them in numerous situations as well. And, since I did this research for my BSF class a few weeks ago, I thought I'd include it here:
- When God was leading the Israelites out of Egypt and across the desert.
The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. -- Exodus 13:21-22 (NASB) - After God had spoken the 10 Commandments to the Israelites in the desert:
So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. --Exodus 20:21 (NASB) - When Moses went back up the mountain to get the stone tablets from God:
Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. --Exodus 25:15 (NASB) - After the Tabernacle was completed in the desert and God entered:
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. --Exodus 40:34 (NASB) - When Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain and Jesus was transfigured:
Then a cloud formed, over-shadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" -- Mark 9:7 (NASB) - Jesus was talking about His second coming:
Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.-- Mark 13:26 and repeated in Luke 21:27 (NASB) - At Jesus' ascension to Heaven:
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up which they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. --Acts 1:9 (NASB) - A search of the bible will show numerous other places where clouds are associated with God. If you are interested, try www.biblegateway.com. You can search for specific words, select verses to be displayed, select the version of the bible you want to use and even have the bible verses you select read to you. Cool Tool!
Blessings,
Mary
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