One Sweet Ride

“…You lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind.” Psalms‬ ‭104:3‬ ‭

A few years ago, my husband had a midlife crisis. And I benefited in some unusual ways.

But to properly set up the story, I need to make a bit of a confession.

Here it is.

Ahem.

I’ve never been cool.

I know, I know. Those of you who know me are not particularly shattered by that statement.

‘No duff,’ you are thinking to yourself right now, with a knowing smirk.

But really. I just never made it in the cool kid list. Back in the days when Ocean Pacific was a thing, I scrimped and saved and yearned and finally had enough saved up to buy a shirt with their logo on it.

About six months after everyone had moved onto the next thing.

So it was a new sensation entirely, to be stared at with distinct admiration by a group of trendy teens.

I was behind the wheel of Brent’s midlife crisis at the time – a sweet little red Mustang convertible.

And I felt like a million bucks.

I was driving home one evening from a friend’s house in a town in which I had been doing a stint as a substitute teacher.

It was a tough crowd. I was struggling.

You can’t even begin to imagine the adrenalin rush of being seen in THAT car, in THAT street, by THOSE kids.

I suddenly understood why Tarzan beat his chest and made animal noises in the jungle. I don’t imagine the ‘smug’ could be scrubbed off with any amount of soap for hours.

Serious street cred.

That was indeed one sweet ride.

But it was nothing compared with this image from the Psalms.

I’ve never ridden in a cloud limo. I’ve never sailed upon the ‘wings of the wind’. Imagine showing up to a high school reunion in a 10,000 horsepower heavenly hoverboard, churning up the driveway with a cumulonimbus or two.

Eyebrows would surely rise – right off guests’ foreheads!

I don’t think I’ve ever connected to God’s ‘cool factor’ before.

But seriously. Riding on the wings of the wind is one sweet ride.

And the One who can harness and control that kind of power is a lot more magnificent, awesome, and fascinating than we give Him credit for.

Now, I realize that this Psalm is poetry, and this is figurative language, not a literal description of how God travels.

But still.

The words are an expression of praise, of exploring God’s power and glory and downright ‘coolness’. They point to yet another side or facet of His character that we don’t often spend time thinking about.

You’d be blown away if God drove to your house on a chariot of clouds, right?

Isn’t it reassuring in these uncertain times to know that God is big and strong and glorious and super fantastically impressive?

So – think about God’s power and glory and all-around amazingness with me?

Father, it is so refreshing to have this new thought about how amazing You are, how big You are, how in control You are! It makes our measures of what it means to be ‘cool’ feel very small and inadequate! Stir our hearts to worship and celebrate Your awesomeness today! Amen.