“But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
He is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.” Job 23:10-14
“He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not split open under them…
The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the sea…
By his wind the heavens were made fair…
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?” Job 26:8,11-14
The predawn sky blazes as a smelting furnace, coal hot fire in roiling clouds, indescribably awe-inspiring, hushing the soul. How like our majestic God to punctuate the storm with such beauty. The color is only a reflection in the west of the emblazoned rising sun in the east, its richness reminding that He is present in every darkness to mark it with glory. Only God’s design, His intricate disorder of the atmosphere and the refraction of light in the clouds that ignites the fiery hue, could pronounce this benediction on the storm.
And so He paints His beauty in the worst we suffer. Deep waves engulf the soul with sorrow or regret, and He brings calm. The darkness of confusion, or shame, or despondence, stymies and threatens to choke, and our Lord Jesus penetrates the thickness with light. When hope is pallid and zeal anemic, our Almighty colors our vision with vitality and boldness. Do we see Him? Can we trace His hand of grace, of tender love, of steady faithfulness? Can we glimpse the shades of mercy here and benevolent correction there? Are we so fraught with troubles that we cannot look beyond to the One who designs them to show off His glory?
In what present storm is God displaying beauty? Have His promises glimmered, or friends sparked kindness’s colors? Where is hope gleaming, or His palpable comfort sustaining?
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning;
shelters you under his wings, yea so gently sustaining!
Have you not seen how your desires ere have been
met by his gracious ordaining?
Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriends you.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen sound from his people again;
gladly forever adore him.” ~Joachim Neander (1680)
Lord, in every storm, give me eyes to behold Your beauty and lips that declare Your praise.
As the rain and snow 