A Changing Firmament

The swirling snow obscured the frozen lake and mountain view before us. The last few days, temperatures dipped to single digits, then soared to mid-forties. Yesterday, puddles appeared on the snow packed gravel driveway. Would they freeze and turn into a patchwork of tiny skating rinks? Or seep into depths below?

Streaks of sun pierced the velvet gray sky. Fat drops of snow, melting from the roof, hung precariously from tips of large wooden beams, then flashed rainbow fireworks, diamonds set afire, before dropping to a glad demise. Heavy, spear-length icicles, thudded one by one and buried themselves in the mounded snow.

Silently, clouds waltzed above, hints of blue opened by the shafts of light. Then, in a crazy pirouette, our view was filled with more snowflakes falling. Snowstorms came and went throughout the day, an ongoing quick-step, eager to gain top billing in today’s kaleidoscopic firmament.

Not to be upstaged, sun streaks like Jedi swords flashed across a frozen stage, jousting with gray velvet fortresses, both light and shadow refusing to concede. Within minutes the scene changed again, and my head swirled to keep up with the complicated choreography of today’s winter dance.

Why does this capricious environment remind me of man’s interior mental place? Perhaps this is a visual reminder. We, like the firmament, are created things in an existence far beyond our understanding. Peace then storms, darkness then light, all jostle for center stage, requiring surefooted sea legs for one to stay upright.

Today, light pierced my spirit as I read reminders of God’s faithfulness. He knows the storms that rage in me, the capricious and shifting moods, the want of silent brooding days to soothe my tired soul, and the need for pristine quenching waters to refill my empty well. Why am I astonished that my mind is a stage for jousting play? When the curtain rises on velvet gray, just as mountains across the lake peek in and out from backstage, I, too, can rest and stand firm knowing there are indeed strong mountains that will come into view again.

No matter where the environment, outside my window or deep in me, beyond time and my small universe God holds firmly in His hand all environments, all firmaments, all universes, all dancing scenes. He knows everything about me, yet invites me to ask Him to again search me, to calm my stormy sea, and to set me on the everlasting way. And, as unexpected as snowflakes cascading once again, His blessings come and never cease.

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LORD, thank You for Your mighty power. No force of nature nor spiritual foe can thwart Your presence and command over all creation. Thank You for the silence, the space, and place to recover from a noisy, anxious, burdened world. No matter the color of today, nor the bleakness of future days, let me rest, Abba God, in Your promises and grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 139:1-3, 23-24 NLT “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.