To the Heavens, and Back

“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.” Psalm 36:5

“Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you.” 1 Kings 8:27

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
‘I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.'” Isaiah 57:15

“He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” Revelation 21:1-4

There’s something about riding through the air above the clouds, while sitting still, that warps time and space and plucks at a longing for eternity. How can I be completely at rest, yet flying hundreds of miles per hour? How can I look far down on miniature roads and rivers that open wide to the ocean, bridges and bays crossed by autos and boats with white tails, and feel small myself? How can I be aloft in the midst of clouds of soft cotton, knowing they are heavy with moisture? ‘Tis the touch of heaven that dwarfs, overwhelms, and encircles.

God has indeed set eternity in the heart of man, both concept and soul sense familiar to no other creature. Uniquely fashioned to rule here below while communing with the One who exists uncontained above the heavens, we are most blessed. And accountable.

Am I regularly adoring this infinite God? Do I break away from the banal and worldly to absorb His other-worldly light? Spending time in worship makes an indelible, divine impression on mindset and motivation. It inevitably soaks eternal into my temporal. It lifts, it reorders. How is my interaction with the Lord of lords affecting what I see and seek? Where do I need more supernatural exposure?

And how am I bringing a piece of heaven to my earthly acquaintances and tasks, into conversation and affection and service? Do I hoard the treasures of Christ and blame time restraints or personal needs? Or does gazing at the sky widen my love and compassion for the many who have not had the chance? Would I eagerly offer them a taste of the heavenlies, the hope of eternal life?

Infinite Father, ground my soul in Your heavens, that I might bring Your infinite splendor here below. May Your glory beheld and savored give hope to the languishing, comfort to the sorrowing, and light to those in darkness.