Stars!!

“Stars!!” my friend’s child exclaimed one night with her head thrown back gazing upward. I am told that the enthusiasm in her voice was only surpassed by the wonder on her face.

It was just a simple childlike observation but I can’t seem to get it out of my thoughts. While I know the excitement she was experiencing might easily and equally be over an empty box of cheerios the next moment, it gave me pause to think. What was going through her mind when she made her declaration? Was it “they are so beautiful and bright” or “wow, look at how many there are” or “God is so awesome that he created them” (not likely the first thought of a two year old) or maybe it was just “hey, I know the word for those, they are called stars!!” (most likely and my pick).

It still compelled me to wonder. Psalm19:1-4 tells at that God speaks to us through His creation.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth their words to the ends of the world.”

As I thought about my friend’s daughter, I wondered what God was speaking to her through those stars. While we like to make up our own thoughts of what God could be saying to us, scripture tells us that in fact there are some very specific things He would like us to know as we gaze upward.

Did you know that God created the stars to bring us light? Genesis 1:16-17 tells us that “God made two great lights- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth”

Where would we be without light? Light signifies clarity. It illuminates what isn’t seen. It represents understanding. Jesus is the light and life of man. “In him was life, and that life was the light of man.” (John 1:4) It is through Jesus that we have true understanding.

Did you know that the stars reveal to us his power? “It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.” (Isaiah 45:12) What do you think the word marshaled means? I love the way the Message Bible translates it “I handcrafted the skies and direct all the constellations in their turnings.” God has full command over the stars and the exact places where they reside and even their movement. And He watches over each star in the universe and makes sure they stay put. As a mother, I considered it a good day if I could keep just two of my little starlings to stay put for two minutes. What I couldn’t manage with two, God does with entire galaxies.

Did you know that God has actually determined the number of stars and gave them each a name? “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” (Psalm 147:4) If God is able to know every star in the universe by name, can you believe that He knows yours. Psalm 8 tells us that God values humans above everything else that he created. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:” If this is true, and I believe all scripture is, then why wouldn’t He know you by name. God truly values us, each one of us. I think we feel as bewildered as the Psalmist at times when we think too long or hard about it. It does seem incomprehensible, but that is the amazing thing about God, He is incomprehensible.

Lastly, did you know that the stars represent the expanse of His love for us? “For great is your love, higher than the heavens.” (Psalm 108:4) Paul the apostle tells in his letter to the Romans that nothing can separate us from the love of God, “neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation” could do that. When you look up at the stars try to imagine, if the stars represented Gods love for us and you were to package it, you would need to find a box that would large enough to encompass all the stars in the universe. That is one mighty big box.

So what do you think of when you look up at the stars? Have you ever thought that God wants to specifically speak to you about Himself? Did you ever realize that they represent the light that He wants to bring into you life? Have you ever considered that power that holds them in their place in the sky is the same power that is watching over and protecting your life? Are you aware that just as He knows each of those stars by name that He knows yours as well? You as an individual are very important to Him. Lastly, what about love. When you look at the stars do you meditate on the length and breath of the love that He has for you represented in the expanse of the universe?

God is speaking to you through His creation all the time. Scripture tells us tons of things about what God would want us to know about Him through nature. Whether it be mountains, birds, deer, rivers, trees, flowers, … the list is endless. Why not take one of those elements and find out exactly what God is saying to you through scripture? Not what you think He is saying but what He is really saying. My guess is, it is probably more then you thought.

     Thou art the star for which all evening waits.
                                                      George Sterling