I love looking at the sky when I’m pondering in the porch swing. If I’m not bird watching, I’m looking up at the heavens of the beautiful sky. Today’s sky was a deep blue sketched with cotton ball fluffy white clouds. Soon as the day heated up the cigar smoke clouds turned dark and gathered with their purple thunderstorm friends and worked up a storm with rain and wind. “He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses,” Psalm 135:7. But the Lord always follows our storms with a rainbow of hope for sunny days ahead.

We feel a kinship with the natural world when we gaze at the sky. The “wide blue yonder” gives us peace and tranquility. The sky seems limitless and reminds us of our freedom to explore all of life’s possibilities. The sky’s changing colors symbolize our human emotions — the glorious deep blue of a fall sky finds a smile, the purple and black clouds of a raging thunderstorm cause a frown of concern, and the spring rains gently falling with the sun shining down jolt our hearts with wonder. The rapidly changing weather serves as a reminder to see the trials and unpredictable nature of every day life as temporary sets backs. We read in Bible scripture that the sky symbolizes God’s power and glory.

When we look up to the sky we see his majesty and we feel his presence. I love a clear dark night sky when the luminous moon is shining down surrounded by his twinkling stars. Psalm 33:6 reads, “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.” I love that. Isaiah 40:26 states, “Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” I imagine God flinging the stars up in the purple night, watching them find their places in the dark heavens, twinkling with happiness from the warmth of God’s hands. I feel I am but a spec on the planet when I gaze at the night’s sky.

Saw two clouds yesterday in the morning sky that looked like footprints from someone wearing sandals. I couldn’t help but wonder if God was walking around checking on his creation. I love to look at the sky, wondering about the colors of the clouds and the shapes Father Sky creates. I feel closest to God in the magnificient colors of Mother Nature’s sunsets, her paintings using the colorful palette of a loving God. Romans 1:20 reads, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Each day when the sun wakes the world, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness. We look to the sky and see the glorious colors of the sunrise and we feel peace knowing God is watching over us. Psalm 36:5 states, “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.” Even if the clouds cover the sunrise, we know the sun is behind the clouds just as we know God is with us even when we can’t see his presence. “The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night,” Psalm 121:5-6.

Next time the heavens catch your attention say a prayer of thanks and focus on the loving God who topped our world with a beautiful sky. Feel God’s presence and know he is always watching over us.

“There is the sky, which is all men’s together.” — Euripides