“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” Acts 1:9
I love clouds. Ever since I can remember, clouds have always managed to capture my attention. My favorite type of cloud is the cumulus cloud. Hanging suspended in a blue sky, these fluffy balls of cotton play hide and seek with the sun and promise fair weather. These clouds can even be entertaining. Churned by turbulent atmospheric winds, they become shapes in which I can “see” a myriad of things from animals to faces to anything my imagination can find in them. Sometimes, I can even see the silver lining when the sunlight shimmers through them.
Many people prefer a clear blue sky, but not me. I don’t recall ever having prayed for a cloudy day, but I may start doing that. The reason is because of the first chapter of Acts. Luke wrote that on the last day that Jesus was on earth, He reiterated His promise of the Holy Spirit, and then as his followers watched, He ascended into the clouds above the Mount of Olives. Right after that event, two heavenly beings appeared and told the onlookers that one day Jesus would return in the exactly the same way he went to heaven… in the clouds!
Can you imagine what it would be like to be laying on your back gazing into the sky picking out different shapes, when all of a sudden there is the sound of a trumpet and Jesus appears? From now on, whenever I see clouds in the sky, I will remember that this might be the day that Jesus returns, and as it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” We will be caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus in the air!
And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(From “It is Well With My Soul” by Horatio Spafford)
One day this will happen! Until then, keep looking up at the clouds!
“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11
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Are you ready to meet Jesus in the clouds?