When I consider Thy heavens...

O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!

who hast set Thy glory above the heavens.

 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength
because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

 When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers,

the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

 What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? 

I'm at the computer, watching a yellow moon climb the sky and waiting for Marie's belated birthday cake to finish baking.

I wrote the following last Friday:

         I've learned something this summer, chasing the sky: when there are clouds, clouds purple and red, clouds aflame with the rays of the sun, I run for my camera.  Clouds, they highlight the majesty of sun.

            Is this not true in life also?

            Throughout the Bible, clouds typify God’s justice in punishing sinful men.  Prophets Joel (2:1-2) and Isaiah (19:1-2) are among those who use this metaphor: “The day of the Lord is coming…a day of clouds,” and, “Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt…and the heart of Egypt shall melt.”  In contrast, the life-giving light of the sun typifies God’s favor, His love.  Psalm 36:9-10: “For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light shall we see light.  Oh, continue Thy loving-kindness unto them that know Thee.” 

Some speak of God and His love without any mention of His judgment.  God loves you, God has a wonderful plan for your life.  No mention of His hatred of sin, His righteousness in punishing the unrepentant.

But love does not – cannot – exist in the absence of judgment. 

Imagine you are walking down the street and a stranger approaches you and professes his love for you.  While you might be flattered by such a declaration, in reality it would mean very little.  Love does not exist in the absence of judgment, in the absence of knowledge, in the absence of evaluation.  Love is the husband who confronts the sharp tongue for the countless time.  Is the child who wraps his arms around the mom who lost her temper and made no time to read a book and says, “I love you, Mama.”  Is God, Who knows our inmost thoughts, judges how utterly wicked and helpless we are, and paid our sentence of eternal hell.  “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10).    He, who appeared on the mercy seat in a cloud and blotted out our sin with a cloud” (Lev. 16:2, Is. 44:22).

            To those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, the sun is covered by clouds and darkness (Exodus 14:20).  But to those who believe, Christ has parted the clouds, and God’s love shines through.  Some days, when there is not a cloud in the sky, we barely take note as the sun slips over the horizon bathed in a rosy glow.  But when we experience clouds of God’s judgment on sin – clouds of discord, death, disease – then His love shines, heart-throbbingly, throat-achingly, breath-takingly beautiful, shines through.

            The sun is rising, and there are clouds in the sky.  I’m off to get my camera.

   

We spent Friday evening with friends, eating McDonalds and wandering around Falls Park.

Here we are (thanks, Jill!):

I shot this thunderhead from the top of the lookout tower.

So much for the cirrus clouds in my sunrise.

12:30 found me pulled over on the side of the road so Leah could hack mucous out of her lungs on our way to the ER.  She was admitted to the hospital at 3:00 AM, and airlifted to Sanford mid-morning.  B.J. and I took turns staying with her, and many loved ones visited Leah and gave us a hand with our other children.

Saturday night: first a cupcake, then sleep (only when you're sick, right? :)

Thank you Uncle Al and Auntie Amy!

This visit made Leah smile!

Going home.

We are home.


Leah is still recovering, still sometimes struggling to breathe.  And yet, out of her mouth, strength: "We never know how God plans it 'til it happens, do we, Mom?"


And we are learning...learning things about asthma, about patience, about priorities, about God.


His love shining in this thunderhead...heart-throbbingly, throat-achingly, breath-takingly beautiful.