Moon Clouds Devotion

Moon Clouds Devo

Purpose: God is NOT a feeling. God is steadfast and omnipresent.

The poem “Moon Clouds” was written during a hard season of my life. I couldn’t tell you what the current events were around me, but I could tell you what my inner world was like: It was dark and lonely and slow, like the clouds that continued to cross the sky the night I wrote the poem. I was outside on a rooftop porch on top of the dormitory building, hoping to gaze at the stars to lift or calm my stormy spirits. This was a place I came often to meet God because the heavenly lights gave me a bigger perspective of who God is. However, when I went out that night in search of His presence, I was met with clouds. I felt as though I was looking at my own mind, shadowed and near tears. (In fact, I may have been crying already). I watched and waited and listened as I prayed. I lifted my head and just then, the clouds moved aside for the moon to shine for a short moment of time. In that instant I felt God’s presence acknowledged in my soul. I felt Him with me. I felt His comfort. I let loose a breath and smiled. This moment was where the poem “Moon Clouds” came from. 

I did not feel God until He let himself be felt and revealed to me. I did not see the moon until He moved the clouds. Does this mean the moon was not there? Does this mean God was not there? Of course not! The moon is always there every night, even when we cannot see it. God is always there, constantly, even when we don’t feel Him. He promises His presence in Matthew 28:19-20 to the disciples saying  “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” In Psalms, David cries out in Psalm 139 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” He declares the omnipresence of God throughout the whole chapter. Even Jonah, stuck in the belly of a whale in the depths of the sea, was not alone. During the daytime, when the moon is shining on the other side of the world, it still exists and it is still doing its work. God is always working and is always beside us, no matter our shifting emotions. The verse I referenced in the poem, James 1:17, reflects this well: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

God is not a feeling. God is Steadfast and omnipresent.