From a chapel message preached to our home-schooled children

We learn from clouds that God can change our circumstances very rapidly in 1st Kings 17, God judged His people with a drought for three years. Then, in chapter 18, Jehovah used His prophet, Elijah, to win a great victory over the false gods that His people were worshiping, and the false prophets who represented those false gods. Then God was ready to bless His people again, after their three years of punishment. 1st Kings 18:41-44 Don't ever give up on God! Stay faithful to Him no matter the circumstances. When things look most hopeless, He may be very close to causing a tiny bit of hope to appear on the horizon. The next thing you know, His blessings will be raining down on you. The clouds show us how high God's mercy reaches and how great His truth is. "Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds." {Ps. 36:5}

The next time you look at the clouds, remember that that's how high God's mercy is. You can't even begin to touch the top of it. There's enough there for you to find forgiveness no matter what sinful thing you do, and no matter how stupidly you may have acted. The Lord says, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." {Is. 44:22}

Sometimes the clouds will cover a mountain so that you don't even know it's there. God chooses to cover the mountain of our sins with a thick cloud so that He doesn't see them, and doesn't punish us like our sins deserve. "For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds." {Ps. 108:4} The next time you look at the clouds, remember that that's how great God's truth is. You can't even begin to learn it all. Learning about God, His Word, and His ways will keep you busy for the rest of your life. It will be your greatest adventure on this earth. Even when the clouds turn ugly, and a storm comes with its frightening lightning and thunder, we are reminded about the greatness of our God. "Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds." {Ps. 68:34} This is a day when the world is filled with storm clouds. For the lost person, it's a very frightening time to be alive. But for the saved person, it should be very exciting.

"The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the might man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness."
{Zeph. 1:15}

When we see the storm clouds of God's judgment all around the world, we know that our Lord Jesus is soon to come and rescue us. Let the clouds remind you that Jesus will be coming to us in clouds like the ones you're watching, and take us to Himself.
 
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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."
{1st Thess. 4:16-17}

Then, when He returns to the world to conquer His enemies and reign over the earth, He will come in the clouds, and we will come with Him to join Him in that glorious moment of victory. Matt. 24:29-30, Matt. 26:62-64 The Apostle John said in Rev. 1:7, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."

We have a lot of lessons we can learn from the clouds. Without clouds, we would have no rainbows; and without the beautiful rainbows, we would forget God's promise to Noah -- a promise He has never broken, just as He'll never break His promises to you. Jehovah used a cloud to protect His people from the advancing armies of Pharaoh, until He was ready to open the Red Sea and lead them safely through the waters.

And God will protect you, too, as you follow Him through this life. The Lord often meets His servants in a thick cloud. sometimes the Lord will be closest to you when you feel that you've been stuck in a thick fog for a long time. It's there in that thick fog that He may give you your clearest instructions and teach you your most important lessons.

We learn from clouds that God can change our circumstances very rapidly. Don't ever give up on God! Stay faithful to Him no matter the circumstances. When things look most hopeless, He may be very close to causing a tiny bit of hope to appear on the horizon. The next thing you know, His blessings will be raining down on you. The clouds show us how high God's mercy reaches any how great His truth is. Even when the clouds turn ugly, and a storm comes with its frightening lightning and thunder, we are reminded about the greatness of our God. This is a day when the world is filled with storm clouds. For the lost person, it's a very frightening time to be alive. But for the saved person, it should be very exciting. Let the clouds remind you that Jesus will be coming to us in clouds like the ones you're watching, and take us to Himself. Then when He returns to the world to conquer His enemies and reign over the earth, He will come in the clouds, and we will come with Him to join Him in that glorious moment of victory. I hope you'll never look at the clouds the same again.