“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.”

-David, Psalm 19:1

The next opportunity you have on a clear night to look up at the stars, you should take it. Especially if you are in the country, away from the city lights, take a few moments to step outside after dark and stargaze.

See what it does to you.

More than likely, your thoughts will move toward the Divine and you will have a heightened sense of awe for the Creator. And as this happens, you will be blessed with renewed perspective for the hard things you are dealing with down here.

In contrast to the magnitude and expanse of the galaxies above, and the God who spoke them into existence (Genesis 1:14-19; James 1:17), your problems will suddenly seem not quite as big as they did before.

As I read the Psalms, I’m convinced stargazing was something David did to rejuvenate his road-weary heart. It was one of his coping mechanisms when life seemed to be closing in on him.

After a long and toilsome day, something compelled David to look up. I can imagine him sprawling out on his back with his hands clasped behind his head and gaping with wonder at the heavens before dozing off to sleep.

What he saw up there restored his perspective and prompted these inspired verses of poetry:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

-Psalm 8:3-4

In that moment David was overcome with gratitude that he enjoyed a personal relationship with the same creative God who had placed (and named) each and every star in the sky. The view reminded him that not only was God vastly powerful, He was also very personable. He was infinitely far away, yet He was also so close. 

The cool thing about the night sky is that it reminds us that God is both otherworldly and personally present at one and the same time. In the Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit), we are blessed to have a God who is more vast than the Heavens that He created, but also as near as the air we breathe.

Chances are, you spend your days looking at a screen of some kind with a sobering newsfeed always lurking nearby. If so, may you soon have an opportunity to re-calibrate your sense of wonder by lifting up your chin after dark. Behold the display of God’s glory in the heavens and be assured, everything’s going to be okay. 

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.