“The Lord commands His Mercy during the day, 

and at night,  His Song is with me –

A Prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 42:8

When my grandchildren began coming into my life, my favorite time was putting them to sleep.  A simple, little lullabye had woven its way into my mind, nothing I’d heard before.  But it became “the lullabye” for my grandchildren. Each baby heard it, and most would almost immediately start nodding off when, cradled in my arms, I’d begin humming the song.  It was an experience I treasured with each of them.   Some of them still remember it.

God has His own Song that He sings over each of us.  It is especially sung at night,  when weariness has come,  and energy has gone. The pressures of our days, the pace of our lives, the burdens we carry, the fears we try to suppress, fill our days.  His Mercy is desperately needed, especially in the times in which we are currently living.  So much is filling our lives … our world … our thoughts.  It seems completely out of control.  Frightening.  Dreadful.

During these days, God’s Mercy is near, by His command.  In the midst of the “terrible,” He is near, holding back the “too much to survive.”  Though it may seem too much, His Mercy is near.  It’s for us to grab onto.  He knows.  He sees.  He is near.

But it’s in the night time . . . when the darkness comes, enveloping our minds and hearts . . . that He comes as a Song.  His Song.  A tender communication from God.  There’s something special about a song, more than words alone that come into our minds and are processed through our logical brains.

He sings His Song to us in the night.  Gently.  Softly.  I would call that a Lullabye.  Simple enough to sink into the heart of a child.  The words are not the most important piece.  It’s the sweet, gentleness of the melody that penetrates beyond words. My “babies” could not yet even understand the “words.” They  recognized my voice and the simple melody…..the familiar tune that seemed to have an almost immediate effect on their emotions.

God’s Song in the Night is meant to go to that deep place which words usually cannot touch . . . outside of our logic or knowledge.  It touches our very spirit.   Allowing His Song, His Voice to come into my heart, my spirit, quiets me.  As I listen to His Song, it becomes a prayer,  and my heart responds back to Him.

You are His child, held in His Arms, near His Heart.  May you listen to His Song,     bringing Peace and sweet Rest.

“See, He comes with clouds.”

Rev. 1:7

I do not like to fly.  This is a very unfortunate reality, considering the Assignment that God planted deeply in my heart happens to be in North Africa and the Middle East.

One of the “jumping off points” to my final destination is Spain.  An early morning flight began a long day and night of flying.  On the drive to the airport, I was dreadfully aware of the early morning horizon, and the massive wall of storm clouds between my plane and my destination.  My stomach was churning with dread.  I knew there would be turbulence at the least.  Ugh!

I carried the knot in my stomach throughout the next few hours of airport lines, checks,

lines, more checks, etc.  All the while, I was rehearsing the “final” message I would send to my dear ones at home (internet access pending!)  [God…couldn’t You have given me an assignment somewhere that I could just drive?]

The plane rumbled down the runway, and my stomach knots grew.  My eyes were glued on the mountain of clouds into which we were quickly ascending.   White…white…white.. ….Bumps…harder bumps….rattles….thoughts of my funeral service.

And then, quiet.    Blue skies.  Billowing Pillows of white below us.   I was still alive.

As I looked down, I heard The Whisper . . . “I’ve got you, Jan.  (Was that a bit of a British accent I heard?)   You’re sitting in My Hand.  No matter what comes, I’ve got you.  Always.”

Whatever was happening on the earth below me…. be it thunder, lightning, rain, wind…. I was in the middle of peaceful blue skies.  The clouds were far below me, and He was carrying me to the desert and the Saharawi people He and I love so much.  Going through the clouds brings anxiety and fear to my vulnerable heart.  But sitting in His Hand, I am safe.  It’s the safest Place to be.

He often uses Clouds to give us a visual of Himself . . . His Presence. . . His Power.  But the safest Place to be is sitting smack-dab in the Palm of His Hand.

“Look!  He comes with clouds.”

Rev. 1:7

 Remember looking up at the sky as a child and seeing different forms clouds create far above on their blue canvas? Especially the “thunderheads” we called them.  I loved watching them as a child, and loved having moments with my little boys…often chuckling at what they were “seeing.”   Now, it’s grandchildren looking up with me, and it’s still delightful  to hear what they see.

As with our moments of looking up at the sky to watch the clouds, we live with the reality of different “clouds” in our lives.  The  clouds  come between us and our blue sky . . . our happy moments when the shadows are gone and we can see the sunshine and clear blue stretching above our lives.

Often, throughout the Bible, God is depicted with a Cloud, because His Power and Radiance would be too much for a human to see and survive the experience.  Just as looking directly at the sun would be blinding to a human eye, our human eyes and minds could not handle direct contact with Him.

But when God’s Presence is with the clouds, it is life-changing.

I remember a day during a very painful season of my life.  I was about to leave a building to go to my car.  As I opened the door, I literally gasped at the sky.  The deep colors of pinks, purples, blues, greens, and many shades of each were breathtaking.  I had never seen anything like it.   I slowly walked to my car, looking up.  Even as I drove out of the parking lot, I could not stop watching the sky.  I do not remember ever seeing such a beautiful sunset.

I had hardly left the lot when I got one of those “Whispers” . . . “Go back…and just watch.”   I knew it was a God-Whisper in my mind.  I turned around and went back to my parking place, and just watched, facing the sunset.   As the gorgeous horizon of colors continued, I realized that the sky canvas was being painted above me, and continuing to spread all the way behind me, filling the entire sky to the horizon behind me.

I sat in the silence, watching the beauty unfolding all around me.

Then The Whisper . . .  “Keep watching . . . just stop, and watch.”

Then,  “Look at the colors . . . all the rainbow colors. . . . What is catching and displaying all those colors?”

I saw.   “The very bottom layers of the clouds are where the colors are.”

The Whisper,  “Haven’t you been saying you feel like you’re ‘under a cloud, and cannot get out from under it’?”

My silent “Yes” hung in my thoughts.

“Without the ‘clouds’ you would not be watching this sky of Beauty right now.   I do some of My very best Work using Clouds.  They’re the Canvas.”

 Tears began running down my cheeks.  I kept watching, and the colors continued stretching, catching and moving the beauty from horizon to horizon.

And the “clouds” that had seemed to only cast shadows and sadness in my life began to take on a new meaning in my mind and heart.  The glimpse of His Artistry, using the ‘clouds’ covering my life, began to reflect a whole new perspective and significance.

Clouds continue . . . but so does His beautiful Work.

 

 

 

 

 

“Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith,

we must get rid of everything that slows us down,

especially sin that distracts us.

We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up.”  

Hebrews 12:1

Who inspires you?  Who have you watched live out their own personal faith?  Perhaps it’s someone in your own family who has encountered serious struggles, but has never turned away from their own love and commitment to their faith.  Perhaps it’s a friend that you have watched walk through great loss or heartbreak, yet they have only tightened their grip on God’s Hand.   Maybe it’s someone to whom you are not even personally connected, watching from a distance as they have come through great tragedy. Yet they’ve held even more tightly to God, trusting Him with each step as they keep moving through experiences you could never imagine surviving.  They have been your examples of faith.

Sometimes the greatest losses and tragedy can be used to bring a new page in our life . . . things we had carried in our lives that had actually served to slow us down, or distract us from where our heart was longing to fly.  They may have been very good things in our lives . . . perhaps wonderful people we would have never wanted to be without.   But, for whatever reason, the void left in their absence has provided you a new opportunity to step into the Race of your own life in a deeper or more focused way.

The Race is your Life.  No one else is running your Race.  It’s between you and God alone.  Others may run beside you for a time, but they are not running your race.  They are running theirs.

How have you been running?   Are you just standing on your mark still trying to get your shoe tied?  Are you focusing on hearing that gun go off, on your mark, ready to go?  Or are you looking at the crowd to see who’s watching you?  Are you still adjusting your running suit?  Does it even fit?  Are you focusing on the finish line, or are you just checking out the runner beside you?  Comparing his/her physique to yours?   Do you even know where the finish line is?  Or are you just running because it’s what everyone else is doing?

Have you intentionally connected to runners who have been proven over time?  They have run their race with consistency and focus.  They know exactly where they are going, and have been running for a long time.  Who is in your life that you know has wisdom and proven experience that can help you improve your running….your technique….your focus….and your outcome?

Whether you intentionally joined the Race, or just wandered onto the field, you are in it.  It’s up to you how you run it.   Who are you looking at?  People who’ve proven they  know how to run their own race? Or do they merely have all the knowledge of how it should be done?

Focus on the Finish Line.  And run for your Life!