A Tale of Two Skies

It was a tale of two skies that morning.

In between my panting and my praise, I diverted from my morning’s walk to dodge the muddied puddles that would lead me closer to the cliff’s edge—closer to the place where wonder happens. The thumping of my own heart would be no match for the thunderous drum of the waves beating on the rocks just below me. It was almost rhythmic, the melody of the wind and waves. It was utterly riveting that I GET to marvel at such grace. And it was downright romantic how the Lover of my Soul was wooing me with His creation.

My senses fully engaged, I stood there looking to the mighty Atlantic, enamored with the expanse of the sky. To my left was a hue so blue it was unmistakable that the sun’s light had already visited there.  This was the place I WANTED to start my morning. The place where there was not one dark, angry cloud to threaten the joy of daybreak. The place girded with incomparable beauty and teeming with such cheer that it prompted peace to my very soul.  

I admit, I probably would have taken that place for granted had it not been for the vastly different sky that lurked just over my right shoulder.

Because there? Well, in that place, there was no hue of blue—just dark clouds that served to remind me of the storms looming amidst all that is placid.  Dark clouds that were menacing the same peace I’d just inhaled. Dark clouds that would usually signal it’s time to journey back to the man-made shelter I call home, so as to avoid the torrent to come.

But in between the crashing of the waves and the bluster of the breeze, there was that still small voice within that convicted me of this: don’t go. Just stay.  

Stay. Even if the dark clouds threaten and the torrent comes and your sky at this moment is nowhere close to that perfect hue of blue.

Stay. Even if it feels daunting and the path is unclear and to go back seems more comfortable than going through.

Stay. Even if it doesn’t make sense and your emotions are rattled and you find you’re too weak for the long haul.  

Stay. Even if you are standing alone.

So I did. I stayed and I turned to my right. I turned to face those darkened clouds looming with storm, and though no one was physically with me, I knew I was not facing them alone. For

“The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done.” ~Psalm 19:1 (CEV)

I stayed and I watched as each crack of sunlight began to break through those darkened clouds. And with every break, the light dispelled the darkness—and the darkness could not overcome it.

I felt a release, almost like I could laugh in the face of the storm. As the sun continued to persist in its God-given purpose, the darkness fled. The threat of torrent dissipated. The looming storm dispersed and there I was protected, for not even one drop of rain came close to falling where I stood.

Sometimes, to experience the wonder of all God has for you and for me and for this world He so loves, we have to face the storm.

And most of the time, we not only have to face the storm, but we have to go through it. 

No, it will not be easy and it will never be comfortable. But the wonder God spoke into my heart that day standing vulnerable in His creation was this:

Just show up.

Much like the sun rises to the occasion every morning, you just show up.

And don’t you fear the storm, for God is with you. That’s the wonder of His presence.

Don’t try to avoid the storm, for God is teaching you. That’s the wonder of His pursuit.

And don’t, for one second, even think about conceding to the storm, because God has already overcome. That’s the wonder of His power.

So just show up, my friend, and allow the light of God within to dispel the darkness without.

Every day, creation continues to testify of the wonders of God.  As a matter of fact, the Psalmist goes onto to declare:

“Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”

Psalm 19:2-4 (NIV)

In what way(s) has the wonder of God’s creation revealed knowledge to your heart?

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash