“The clouds are the dust of his feet.”
He treads the high places and watches over his creation. He sees every car that motors down the road and all the passengers within it. He knows their destination and every relationship they will form. He knows their ideas before they conceive them, even before they speak them. He has a destiny laid out for every person. *
We think that we go about our business and make our choices for work and play as though we direct our lives. But in fact, our destinies are laid out before the beginning of time. “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) God sees us before we are conceived and knows how our life will unfold before we are born. He watches from on high. He shapes, molds, and directs our paths. (Psalm 139)
As I sit on top of this mountain, viewing the blue ridges of the Smokies, the clouds layered above them, I am again sure of His involvement in our lives. Why would He create such beauty unless He desired to share it with us?
Whether we recognize it or not, He is completely involved in every decision we make, whether we honor Him by asking Him to join in that consideration or whether we ignore His input. He is still within the decision. His desire is not to be a part of our lives but to be 100% in our lives. And yet, as I sit here on top of the mountain, it’s so clear that what we do, say, and believe may not acknowledge Him. This makes us poor spiritually, even though we may be prosperous in many ways. Only when we bind ourselves with the three strands of the triune God do we find out His outstanding attributes, how much He loves us, and what He has prepared for us.
Several weeks ago, my friends and I climbed a rugged path to the top of a mountain in western NC. None of us were young sprouts. But we were all drawn to the top of this mountain because of the 180-degree views of the Smokies. As I stood on Hemphill Bald and looked at the hillside and pastureland below, I remembered the scripture passage that says He owns the cattle on 1,000 hills. He owns every blade of grass, every beautiful golden wildflower that is blooming now in the fall weather, every bird that flies across the sky, every butterfly searching for nectar.
He owns it all, and it belongs to Him. We are stewards of the garden called earth. We enjoy it for a while, but it is with reverence that we must view His creation.
We serve a great God, higher than the clouds that are the dust of his feet and the mountains which He formed with the fingers of his hands. He spoke every forest tree and wildflower into being, as well as the bears, elk, deer, and wild hogs that inhabit these mountains. He did not create and then leave. He stayed to watch over His work and be involved with it. He knows every bird and butterfly that summers here and those who migrate through it on their way to summer and winter homes.
The next time you hear a bird song, or you listen to the bees enjoying the nectar of the goldenrod, and you feel the breeze across your face and the sun on your forehead, thank Him for giving us this beautiful creation. And remember, heaven is even more glorious than even this wonderful earth. So make sure you know who Jesus is because at some point, you will have a conversation with Him if you want to spend eternity with the triune God. You cannot step from these mountains into eternity without having done that. So often, we’re told the story of Jesus standing at the door and knocking, and we are to answer. But I think it may be the other way around. We will stand at a door without a doorknob, and He stands on the other side waiting. If He recognizes your voice, He will open the door and say, well done, good and faithful servant, welcome to heaven. Make sure He recognizes your voice.
“For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.”
Psalm 50:10 NLT
*Nahum 1:3
