Staring into the Heavens One Night...

Have you ever beheld a starlit night so beautiful it took your breath away?

One night I was on a hayride out in the middle of nowhere on a ranch in Northern Arizona. All my mountains of problems were put in place instantly when I viewed the night sky, as I could say nothing but, "Thank you, Lord."

In the town where we live, we don't see too many stars usually because of clouds and light pollution. Out there, there was none of that. I was at a low point in life: my marriage was on shaky ground, I had trouble with my children, and overall, I was pretty devastated. Yet God says " a bruised reed shall He will not break..." Matt. 12: 20.

My family of origin and their children were at this lovely ranch along with my parents in honor of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We rode horses, ate delicious food, hiked, and enjoyed the lovely mountain climate of Northern Arizona.But inside I was hiding inner pain. Only my younger son was with me. My older son was on tour in Iraq. that year. Others wouldn't/couldn't come. My sisters had all their families with them. There was a barn dance going on but I really had no one to dance with because it was just me and my teenager, while my sisters had their husbands and all of their children. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.

All of a sudden, I heard one of the cheery camp leaders call out that they were going on a hayride, would any of us care to join them? I didn't have any one to dance with anyway, so I slipped away from the square dance and joined some strangers on the hayride. I got on with a wrong attitude, poor little old me.

But as I held my head up, peering into the heavens, I saw the glowing ring of the Milky Way that I had never seen before. Quite simply, I was in awe of God, His magnificent creation, and my own human fraigility.

I thought of the verses which told me that His thoughts were so higher than my thoughts, they were as high as the heaven was above the earth.(Isaiah 55:9) That is how much greater God thinks than my little old mind does. If I need wisdom, why do I think I would have one scintilla of the knowledge He would to know how to solve my problems?(Psalm 39: 4)

David told us in the book of Psalms, "The heavens declare the glory of God..." (Psalm 19:1) As I rode that little wagon that night, I tasted the majesty of God in viewing the beauty of His starry creation, and acknowledging Him as the Mighty Creator.

Scripture also tells us "The fool says in his heart there is no God." Psalm 53:1 I could not fathom how anyone could have looked up into the Milky Way that night and deny that a Creator had put that into existence. How could that have come just form a flash of matter, like the evolutionists claim?

Two thousand years ago, some Kings from the East saw a beautiful, new star in the heavens. One that they had never seen before. They carefully calculated and travelled to the place where the star shone its light, over the city of Bethlehem. I love what it says in the book of Matthew about these Oriental kings: When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." Matthew 2:10 These men were rich, they had knowledge, but when...they found the babv, a brand new joy came to them, something this world could not and would not ever give.

The Bible says God's ways are not our ways. We would have Christ come as a King, but He came as helpless baby. The stars above reflect not their own glory, but His.

He is the very reason all things in this world are held together. (Colossians 1: 17)

Just like the wisemen from the East,we, too, are happiest when we are busy revealing His glory and not our own.