Its Where You Look

One of the blessings of power outages or load shedding in South Africa is how it enhances our view of the stars. Without light pollution the night sky in the Southern hemisphere is dazzling leaving one speechless. On a good night you can see the Southern Cross, which is composed of 5 stars in the shape of a cross.

It is amazing to think that one of the brightest of the 5 stars is Alpha Crucis, which is only 321 light years from earth. To put that into perspective, if we were to board an airplane going 500 miles an hour it would take well over 4 million years to get there (feel free to check my math, not my best subject). I don’t know about you but those numbers hurt my head.

A few days ago I had a conversation with a US service man who served in Afghanistan. He was sharing his struggle with PTSD and his battle with addictions. As we talked about steps toward healing, he said one of the things that settles his soul is to climb up a mountain and let the stars speak. The stars always tell him “there is something out there bigger than me!”

The young man probably didn’t know it but he was following the advice of the prophet Isaiah who knew healing could be found by looking up:

“Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name. And He counts them to see that none are lost or have strayed away.” (Isaiah 40:26)

 The prophet Isaiah was addressing a group of people stressed out by the events of their day. They were looking to false gods who gave false hope to problems that need supernatural intervention. Only a God who created the billions times billions of stars and knew them by name had the power to rescue His children from the battles surrounding them.

Where are you looking for your hope? Politics, People, Plenty, Power, fleeting Pleasures of the day. Take a moment to go outside at night to look at the stars and think about the One who created them. Everything else is puny and as the apostle Paul said, “poop” compared to knowing Christ, the one who created the stars (see Philippians 3:7-9, Colossians 1:16-17).

I truly believe in the hour we are living in the Holy Spirit is calling the Father’s Children to “look up into the heavens” and behold the glory of God the Creator. He who made the stars, knows them by name, and makes sure none are lost does the same for the children He created.

Notice the famous promises given by Isaiah to those who look up to the Creator of the Stars as their only hope:

“He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; He offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31)