[Monday's Devotional] - Stars

This week I want to look at five things we have all experienced through our everyday contact with the created world: the stars, the sea, mountains, deserts and rivers. Even if you have never been on top of a mountain or in a desert, all of these parts of creation are universally understood by the whole of humanity.

The Bible uses these physical realities sometimes as signposts, sometimes as metaphors, sometimes as teaching aids.

Today I would like us to think about the stars. Given the chance to stare up at a clear sky at night, we could be forgiven for feeling 'small'. When we think about the size of the universe, it rapidly becomes clear just how small a place we occupy in the whole created order. This can either make us feel insignificant to the point of feeling meaningless or it can help put our small and petty worries in perspective.

Recently I came across two verses in Psalm 147.  I am quoting them from the New Living Translation because this version makes the contrast very clear. Verse 3 says ''He heals the broken hearted and bandages their wounds' which is an image of tenderness and care, almost motherly in its compassion. Then the very next verse says 'He counts the stars and calls them all by name'!! The exclamation marks are mine. How amazing, our God is so great that broken hearts and bruised bodies are not overlooked but stars are also counted and named. Nothing is too small for God's attention and the universe is not overwhelmingly big to the one who created it and names all the stars. We haven't even begun to see them all yet, let alone name them.

Give thanks today that the God who counts the stars also knows your name and your wounds.

Sheila Bridge