Seeing God Amongst The Clouds

Have you ever been driving down the Bass Highway to Devonport on a winters evening or morning,

to be all of a sudden engulfed by clouds, fog and smog.

At times it can be so dense that you have no idea what is a metre in front of you

Or what is around you.

Your headlights only serve to warn others that there is some other fool on the road at this time of the day.

It is difficult driving in such conditions isn’t it?

And throughout our life we will encounter clouds,

many clouds will surround us

and they hinder our view of life.

At times we will feel like our entire life has been swamped by clouds.

They can make us uncomfortable.

They can hinder our perspective of what is happening and who we are.

They can even mislead us to believe that we are so far off our plans, when in fact we could be right on track but not seeing it.

And in our relationship with God when the clouds are around us we can often feel that God is not present,

when in fact he is right there with us.

When we look at scripture we discover something, God would appear in the cloud.

Listen to this, from Exodus chapter 40 verse 34,

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Now what are some of the clouds in your life?

What are some of the things and events that cloud your life?

What clouds your view of God and the life God intends for you?

Our readings today suggest a number of clouds that can get in the road of us viewing God.

I invite you to join me as we discover these.

Lets begin by opening our bibles to Exodus 24.

We will look specifically at verses 13 and 14.

Please read it with me.

13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”

Here Moses identifies, and earlier in verse 2, God identifies that people can cloud our relationship with God.

Moses is about to spend so time with God,

and so says if you have any complaints or problems don’t come to me, go to the elders, I need to focus on what God is saying.

Think about your life, how do people cloud your relationship with God.

Maybe it is their ideas about God.

Perhaps they discourage you from spending time with God.

Throughout my life I can think of other Christians who have clearly reflected God’s love to me, and others who have clouded my view of God.

Now people will always be part of our life.

In fact people are key to God’s plan, so totally avoiding them is no the answer.

Rather it is best to understand that if a person discourages us or clouds our view of God then it is the person and not God.

Now lets jump down to verse 18,

Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Now how many of you have spent a solid forty days and forty nights, totally focused on God.

Not many.

And it is not essential for our Christian journey,

but what is that we dedicate a time to spend entirely with God.

But also what can cloud our view of God is our attitude to time.

Some people have said to me unless the worship service is over in 45 minutes I have not heard God,

others have suggested that the times they have heard God is when they have spent at least 2 hours in worship, anything less and they do not feel like they have been in God’s presence.

Our attitudes to time act as a cloud to seeing God.

Can I suggest don’t be overly stressed about the time,

rather be concerned about hearing God.

Also if you have not set aside a dedicated time to share with God as an individual or family,

now is the time to do so.

On Wednesday we begin Lent, some people will begin the Lenten journey by attending the Ash Wednesday service, sacrificing some of their time to spend with God. Don’t let time or your attitude to time cloud your relationship with God.

Lets now turn to 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 16.

Lets read it together

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.