Have you ever sat outside on a cloudless night and looked at the stars? And not just to glance up, but to really look—to admire God’s handiwork in the sky and recognize the vast nature of His creation?
I can tell you I haven’t done this enough.
But I do remember the summer nights when I used to work at wilderness camp. On some weeks when the weather cooperated, we’d roll up our sleeping bags and walk up to the ball field for a sleep out. Trees surrounded the open field, and no light pollution blocked our view of the night sky.
The stars shone brighter than any night light. We’d form a big circle with our sleeping bags and sing songs until our campers fell asleep. Then we’d lie awake whispering our stories and waiting for the shooting stars we almost always saw.
Awestruck by God’s creation.
I have other memories of starlit nights, too. Lying on the driveway outside a guest house in Honduras, looking at the stars with our new neighborhood friends, still-sunwarmed pavement against our backs. Watching the stars from the bed of a pick-up truck with friends at a drive-in movie. Stopping to stare at so many moments that might’ve otherwise felt rushed.
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it hard to feel anxious when I look at the stars, when God feels so near and so real and so powerful.
And then I realize that all over the world, people are looking at the same stars.
How many stories form beneath starlit skies? How many lives have been changed by experiencing the vastness of the universe?
I love Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
And yet, the same God who created those stars also created us. And He loves us so much more than the stars He has named and placed in the sky.
I think that’s pretty amazing.
As summer draws to a close—and even if summer lasts all year long, wherever you are—my wish for you is that you find a night to sit beneath the stars.
And maybe you’ll find a chance, beneath that starry sky, to share your story, too.
And never forget… you are onederfully created by the One who crafts the stars.
Love,
Becca
