It’s been a steady rain almost all day here but tonight God rolled back the cloudy veil to reveal his magnificent heavens. As the clouds gave way to the inky black backdrop the stars and planets peaked through. I was reminded of a trip a few years ago to Guyana. There, in the darkness of the savannas, where there is little artificial light, the stars were simply ablaze.
A week or so before leaving on that trip I took my youngest two boys outside and showed them some constellations. The great hunter, Orion, stood watching just above our driveway and both boys were quickly able to recognize his shape. On this particular night I found a small payphone and dialed home. I told the boys to take the phone outside and find Orion.
“I see it, there it is!”
“Are you sure?” I asked
“Yes! We can see it!” Came the reply.
“Guess what guys? I’m looking at it too!”
That may seem a little cutesy to you but it was a special moment. All of a sudden we were together again even though we were separated by 2600 miles! I was looking at the same constellation at the same time they were. It was special.
But tonight it occured to me that I was really in 3 places at once because not only was I sharing the moment with Noah and Nathan but with a suffering man named Job. He wrote twice of Orion:
“who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south?” (Job 9:9) and, quoting God’s question:
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?” (Job 38:31).
When I look up at night I am seeing something that grabbed the attention of the ancients and even then they knew enough to give God the glory for his creation. The next time you step out at night and look heavenward into the starry host, give the glory to God. Job did.
