Through Thick and Thin

Welcome to today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional. Today's reading, titled Through Thick and Thin, was written by Cindy Casper.

On January 28, 1986, the U.S. space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after takeoff. In a speech of comfort to the nation, President Reagan quoted from the poem, High Flight, in which John Gillespie McGee, a World War II pilot, had written of the high, untrespassed sanctity of space and the sense of putting out his hand to touch the face of God. Although we can't literally touch God's face, we sometimes experience a stunning sunset or a place of meditation in nature that gives us an overwhelming sense that He's near. Some people call these moments thin places. The barrier separating heaven and earth seems to grow a little thinner. God feels a little closer. The Israelites may have experienced a thin place as they sensed the nearness of God in the desert wilderness. God provided a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to lead them through the desert. When they were staying in the camp, Exodus chapter 40 says, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their travels, they knew God was with them. As we enjoy the incredible beauty of God's creation, we grow conscious that He's present everywhere. As we talk with Him in prayer, listen to Him, and read the Scriptures, we can enjoy fellowship with Him anytime and anywhere. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Exodus chapter 40 verses 34 through 38. If the cloud did not lift, they did not set out until the day it lifted.

So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, in the busyness of our lives, it's rare that we actually take time to stop and really take your creation in.

But when we do, we can have our breath taken away. Thank you for all that you've created to sustain us and for our enjoyment. When we meditate on your creation, we can feel and recognize your presence in all things, and we find comfort even in life's most difficult times. Thank you for this, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.