Grey skies shining on me!

I will meditate on the glorious splendour of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness and shall sing of Your righteousness. Psalm 145:5–7 (NKJV).

It was the morning of the second day of winter, a grey blanket of cloud hung low stretching to the horizon. Drizzly rain smeared my windscreen making everything seem even greyer. Soggy paddocks anchored a patchwork of woolly sheep huddled together to conserve some heat. Even the birds had perched closely on the telephone wires leaving no gaps between their feathers.

I searched for something of beauty, but this day on my way to work all I saw were different shades of the same grey. I had to venture elsewhere, above the blanket of dreary cloud. I was comforted to know that although I could not see it, beautiful blue sky remained in place obscured only for a little while. And above the sky, the sun, the moon, and the glittering stars – all of creation.

How limited my perspective! How quick I allow my circumstances to blur my vision, and always how quick to complain. In my little world of momentary bleakness, it is easy to forget the constant goodness of our Heavenly Father, the one who has a panoramic view over all his creation. My focus is not even close to his focus, my plans amount to nothing – his plans amount to everything.

We have several enemies who would love to rob us of our hope and joy in the goodness and majesty of God. One of which is our own sinful nature, the other is the one of old, the father of all lies, Satan. He takes advantage of this nature of ours hitching a ride on our emotions, especially during the grey days of our lives. He loves nothing better than to rob us of our true hope, blinding us and distorting our vision.

Grey skies are beautiful in their own right, if only to simply help us to appreciate the blue. Grey times in our lives are beautiful as well, if they point us to Jesus and the true hope and comfort we have in him. Let’s face it, our lives will come to an end and, when that day arrives, we can be certain that whether blue or grey, that day will be glorious, full of joy and great peace for the one who is focussed on the promises of their Lord and Saviour.

Until that day we can say with David: I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 (NIV).

Prayer: Lord God our Heavenly Father, your goodness toward us is beyond our comprehension, providing all that we need for daily life, and giving yourself as our Redeemer for all that we ever need for our eternal life. Remind us that our grey days are only a mist that can never obscure your goodness and merciful love for us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

About the Author

Dee Simons

I was born in the Wimmera district of Victoria (Minyip) and raised in the Western District of Victoria. My husband, Bruce, and I have been blessed with three children. We have recently been gifted with our first grandchild. Our home is situated in the scenic township of Dunkeld and we are members at Trinity Lutheran Church, Warrayure. During the week you will find me behind the front desk at Good Shepherd Lutheran College in Hamilton. I have worked at the college over the past 17 years. I wish to acknowledge my family – often the first to hear a new devotion, and all those people who encouraged and inspired me to keep writing, giving me opportunity to share these words. Finally, I thank and give all glory to God, who I know, without any doubt or hesitation, is the one who holds my pen. Often after I finish a devotion and read back over the words, I am flabbergasted that I actually wrote them. I know that there is a higher power directing my thoughts to paper. The Holy Spirit is at work here and I am always emotionally touched when I think that this God would even contemplate to use me to do his work. That is the true miracle. My prayer is that God will bless you through these devotions.