"God is in the clouds"

A man looked up at the sky, his palm shielding his eyes from the intense sunlight. He stood at the edge of an immense cliff, overlooking the construction of a gleaming white tower.

Like a sleeping sentinal guarding the plains, the Tower of Babel was a magnificant structure indeed. It was a sight to behold - thousands of workers traversed the spiralling footsteps leading up to the pinnacle, carrying loads on their backs. There wasn't a structure like this before; the top of the tower seemed to peer over the clouds like a child tip-toeing and peeking over a table.

"Is God up there, in the clouds?"

The question came almost out of the blue, and the man realised his son had been beside him all this while. He wrapped his huge arms around the child.

"Yes son, God is out there in the clouds."

The above description is an illustration of the popular Tower of Babel story, which talks about he pride of man and the folly of human intellect - a common theme throughout the pages of the Bible. In his fallen state, man has tried many ways and means to reach God. The tower of Babel symbolises man's prideful attempts to reach God, thinking that they can do it by their own ways and means.

The ignorance of man was pretty obvious: by building a skyscraper, could a man reach God? History has shone that man has tried that and failed. A 12-year-old will easily tell you that it is impossible. Today, skyscrapers are hardly used as a means to reach God. Instead, they serve more practical reasons - to save space and maximise land use.

But despite technological and societal advancements, the pride of man has not changed. This is explained in Job 11:7-12 (The Message):

"Do you think you can explain the mystery of God?
Do you think you can diagram God Almighty?
God is far higher than you can imagine, far deeper than you can comprehend,
Stretching farther than earth's horizons, far wider than the endless ocean.
If he happens along, throws you in jail then hauls you into court, can you do anything about it?
He sees through vain pretensions, spots evil a long way off— no one pulls the wool over his eyes! Hollow men, hollow women, will wise up about the same time mules learn to talk.

The pride of men never changes, and the Bible captures it very well. God is the creator of the heavens and the earth; His being goes beyond the known universe. By devising their own methods and religions, mankind thinks it can reach God.

However, the only true way to God is when we realise there is no way we can touch God by ourselves, and yet we maintain a genuine desire to want to find Him. God is the rewarder of such people.

God is definitely way above the clouds. But He is definitely watching.