Last night was supposed to be one of the best chances of the year to see shooting stars, as the annual Gemenids meteor shower hits its peak. I stepped outside briefly and didn’t see any meteors, but did notice Orion and the Pleiades and was equally in awe, even though I’ve seen these hundreds of times before. I’m sure most of us have seen a meteor streak across the sky and been amazed, but what would compel us to go outside on a chilly night and watch again, other than to see something amazing again? When I was in middle school, among other things, I was into Astronomy and felt compelled to see and learn about some of the wondrous things up in the sky above me through telescopes and most any avenue I could explore. While I was not particularly aware that I was growing in my faith, God was not only teaching me through words at church, He was also showing me the work of His hands in all of the natural world around me, and I was in awe. He continues to to the same today, in a number of ways. When have you been most astounded and speechless in God’s creation and what He has done for you?
When I look at 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, and the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4
There have been a couple of times where I felt that God did something to speak directly to me. Once, again when I was in middle school, I was helping on the farm late at night and I stepped back in frustration of slow progress in what we were doing, and I saw the biggest meteor streak across the sky above me that I ever recall seeing. I just felt encouraged in that moment. Another time, 15 years ago, when I was mourning a loss, I looked up and saw a meteor streak across the sky, and in my grief, laughed and said ‘Thank You, Lord’ in my heart. I knew it may just have been a coincidence, but still felt touched and grateful for how God was working in my life at that time. Maybe God did send those shooting start just to speak to my heart in those moments, or maybe he just used his creation in a way that he uses it to speak to all of us each day, if we will just listen.
He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Psalm 147:4
So regardless if you observe a once in a lifetime astronomical or meteorological phenomenon, or just get a moment to pause in a forest and notice the beauty and God’s fingerprints in all the created world around you, if we just open our eyes and minds to Him, He will speak to us through all of creation. If we also open up His Word and engage in prayer on a regular basis, we create many more opportunities to hear of what God has for us each and every day. May you hear from Him today and every day you turn your hearts toward Him!
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20
Yours in Christ,
Clark
