Stargazing

      On some warm summer nights in my childhood I would roll out my sleeping bag in our rural back yard and lie with my dog cuddled close, to gaze up into the vast night sky. Knowing little about the science of stars, I imagined them to be pinpricks in black parchment backlit by brilliant light, or twinkling gems thrown across black velvet by some cosmic giant. But my fertile imagination could not define the vague yearning stirred by the stars, the evasive sense of someone reaching down from the dark sky to place a finger on my small soul. I felt insignificant beneath the infinite night, yet the sense of being watched over with care brought calm sleep.
    Years later when I first read Psalm 8, those nights under the stars came back to me with vivid clarity. Except now I had a name for the presence I sensed back then....God, my Heavenly Father.
    “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.” -
 Psalm 8:3-5
    The concept of the Creator God of the universe being mindful of me is one I still struggle to wrap my mind around, but as my faith and trust in Him grow, I gladly accept such sovereign care. God’s son, Jesus Christ, is now my star, my Savior, the sparkling light of my life. He is the star to come out of Jacob (Nu.24:17), the day star arising in my heart (2 Pet.1:19), the bright Morning Star (Rev. 22:16).
    I awoke early when I slept outside, as soon as dawn’s pale light began to seep across the sky. I watched as the stars of the night would gradually give way to the light until finally there was only one star shining. All others faded from view except for the morning star. Jesus has heralded the dawn of a new day in my life, giving me the promise of a fresh and hopeful future. He is the brightest luminary in my world, outshining prestige, possessions, and persons. I sensed his presence as a child gazing up at the stars. I am now assured of his presence as the light of the world, the bright Morning Star.