To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. – Isaiah 40:25-26
When Isaiah recorded these words of God, he knew the stars were numerous and beautiful. Little did he know the true scale of the vastness of the heavens. Astronomers tell us there are 200 billion stars residing in just one of the smaller galaxies, the Milky Way. The universe holds a mere 3,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars! That’s three thousand million billion stars, each of which God has assigned a name. I suppose remembering so many names is easy compared to creating them in the first place. (Oh and all of those movie stars – He created them too).
The sheer volume of stars boggles the brain, but their beauty is equally astounding. We are just beginning to capture images of what God has fashioned in the far corners of the universe. We call cloud formations of clouds of gas, dust and stars – nebulae. Do yourself a favor and take a moment to view these images of nebulae, allowing “the greatness of His might and the strength of His power” to sink in.
Is it any wonder that in hard times, God asks us to look away from our earthly dilemmas and look up to Him and His stellar handiwork? Still, how does this help if we’re sick and laying flat on our backs?
In May of 2003, when I was battling Stage IV metastatic melanoma, I remember lying in a hospital bed, shaken by doubts and fears which had broad-sided me in the wee hours of the night. As the Lord began redirecting my focus, He reminded me of the complexity and vastness of His creation, and how amazingly awesome He is. Out of nothing, He designed and launched this entire cosmos. Yet Psalm 139:17-18 tell us He thinks of you and me constantly AND with great fondness. Romans 8:28 says He works ALL things to the good for those who love Him.
So what is there to fear? The Star Maker loves us!
Lord, give us just a glimpse of your true nature and we will be lifted out of our troubles.
