Beauty Out Of Nothing – Gravity Wave Clouds

A few days ago, my husband and I were headed to a Bible study when we saw a beautiful and intriguing sight in the sky.

Check out these linear (also known as lenticular) clouds.

We’ve never seen clouds like this before in our lifetime.

They literally looked like stripes across the sky – white linear clouds alternating in a distinct pattern with blue gaps in between.

Only our creator God can paint beauty out of nothing on an earthly canvas.

Even a child can see it!

What are these clouds anyway?

I immediately texted a meteorologist friend of mine.

A few seconds later, he came back with the answer.

They’re called, “gravity wave clouds.”

Wave clouds – in the sky!

Strictly speaking, it’s when a sudden cold parcel forms above and is forced downward. The splash effect is like when you throw a rock in a pond and watch the waves form and spread outward. – courtesy of Larry Cosgrove, Meteorologist.

Beauty Out Of Nothing – The Majesty of Creator God

Just like a beautiful snowflake, no two clouds are exactly alike.

There are many different shapes and sizes towering up in the sky.

And, with just the right conditions, life-giving rain falls to replenish the earth.

“The clouds and the rain display God’s astonishing control of the world in operations of such delicacy and strength that men can neither understand nor imitate them.” (Andersen)¹

God Reveals Himself Through Creation

One of my favorite things to do is to take a drive through the countryside.

I can’t help but stand in awe at the power and majesty of our Sovereign God. He reveals Himself in many ways through His creation and in our hearts and minds.

God created and sustains everything that exists. His power is absolute, and His love is perfect.

What a blessing to know that He created you and me in His own image!

²⁷So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:27, (NASB).³

We were not created from lower life forms without any value, as evolution suggests.

We are made for much more.

God’s likeness denotes our capacity to rule over creation and be in relationship with God and other humans and to exercise reason, intelligence, speech, moral consciousness, creativity, rationality, and choice. Since the beginning of time, God has desired to bless us and enjoy close fellowship with us, and for this reason He made us like Himself. – Got Questions website.⁴

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¹Anderson, Francis I. Job (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975).

⁴Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “What does it mean when God said, ‘Let us Make Man In Our Image’ Genesis 1:26)? n.d., para. 3. Web. Accessed March 26, 2023. From Genesis.

Our Exceptional God

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Several years ago, I visited a college friend of mine who lived in Chicago.

One of the coolest things we did during that trip was to visit the famous Art Institute.

If you haven’t been there yet, it is huge 🙂

We saw so many exquisite art collections that day.

After walking around for hours, I wasn’t even tired.

My favorite memory was getting to see the works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and specifically my favorite, “The Two Sisters, On the Terrace.”

Here’s a picture of it for you to see . . .

The Two Sisters, on the Terrace” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Trust me, there’s no comparison between the picture above, and the real painting.

The vivid reds of the older woman’s hat were striking to see in person.

It was hard to look away.

I remember thinking about the effort it took for the master artist to get just that right shade of eye-pleasing red.

Did you know that one of Renoir’s paintings sold at Sotheby’s for $78.1 million dollars?

Think about this for a minute — can you imagine the public backlash from M. Renoir if another artist had the gall to take credit for his work?

That would be a crime of theft, and rightfully so.

Likewise, in our context as thinking human beings, why would our Sovereign Lord, the Master Creator of the entire universe, share His glory with anyone or anything else?

He wouldn’t.

Man-exalted replacements are graven idols.

God’s copyright on creation is to be revered.

Idol worship robs God of the glory that is rightfully His, and that is something He will not tolerate. (Isaiah 42:8). – Got Questions Website.¹

The Golden Calf

You might think that the golden calf of ancient Biblical history was melted down for good, and it was.

“That” particular calf was burned down to a powder, and later consumed as punishment for Israel’s wickedness.

But, idolatry still exists in our modern day.

Any “golden calves” we set up for worship other than the one true God makes God very angry.

We need to learn this and many other valuable lessons from the experience of the Israelites. The major and minor prophets warned God’s people time and time again to stop worshiping false gods.

But, as history unfolded, we read in Scripture that they didn’t always listen, to their own detriment.

God is both merciful and patient with us, more than we could ever deserve, but He won’t tolerate idolatry forever without judgment at the appointed time.

God’s Copyright on Creation

God's copyright on creation Consider the amazing and even the still-to-be-discovered wonders of God’s creation.

Here’s just one stunning example of why the ultimate Master Artist deserves all our praise – the recent Comet Neowise.

Comet Neowise

Comets have vapor trails up to 10,000 miles long. If you could capture all that vapor, and put it in a bottle, the amount of vapor actually present in the bottle would take up less than 1 cubic inch of space. – David Guzik, Christian pastor and author.³

Less than one cubic inch!

So, here’s my question: why would anyone risk their eternal life and happiness by insisting that there is more than one way to Heaven, than thru Jesus Christ alone?

This is such a serious question, but I fear many people aren’t taking it seriously.

Gratitude For the One Who Gave Us Life

Consider just one of the many excruciating details about Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross for yours and my sins.

Spikes about 7 inches long and 3/8 of an inch in diameter were driven into the wrists. – allaboutjesuschrist.org website.⁴

That horrific measurement is about the length of your wrist to the crook of your elbow.

Jesus suffered all of that for yours and my sins.

With that in mind, how could anyone even think of praying to anyone else?

Not surprisingly, even angels warned against it.

God is on His throne at this very moment.

The angels and the saints are worshiping Him forevermore and, at some glorious time in the future, by trusting in Jesus Christ alone, we will join them!

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Photo credits:

Renoir painting photo, “The Two Sisters On The Terrace” photo, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, Created: 1881date QS:P571,+1881-00-00T00:00:00Z/9. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Source Credit Line is the Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection.

Comet Neowise photo, taken in Caliente, CA; July 2020. Courtesy of author, Jason Hullinger / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0).Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amewzing/50122920178/. Accessed from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comet_Neowise,_taken_in_Caliente,_CA;_July_2020.jpg

¹ Quotation from gotquestions.org, from “What is the definition of Idolatry?” n.d., para. 3. Web. Accessed 29 July, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.gotquestions.org/idolatry-definition.html.

³ Quotation from Christian pastor David Guzik. “Bible-Commentary/Collossians-1.” n.d., Web. Accessed July 29, 2020. Retrieved from https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/colossians-1/.

⁴ Quotation from allaboutjesuschrist.org, from “Crucifixion.” n.d., para. 3. Web. Accessed 29 July, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/crucifixion.htm

Our Exceptional God

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