More Wondrous Still

On a mild, clear summer night, our family loves to gaze into the evening sky and look for any of the dozens of resplendent star constellations. After minutes of searching, the kids will grin ear to ear upon discovering the Big Dipper. On any given night, there are some 4,500 stars visible from the onlooker’s horizon. However, that figure pales compared to the total count of cosmic luminaries above. There are some 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone (multiply that by hundreds of billions, perhaps even trillions, of galaxies). According to recent estimates by the American Astronomical Society, the total stellar population is about 200 billion trillion.

Little compares to the grandeur of God’s handiwork in the canopy of stars arraying the evening sky. As King David wrote in Psalm 8:

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? (vv. 3-4 NLT)

It is mind-boggling to consider that the same God who created the moon and starry hosts is interested in your everyday affairs and mine. Yet, He cares for each one of us. Indeed, we are the singular rival to the most exquisite divine feat decorating the natural world. Continuing in the same Psalm, David muses:

Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! (vv. 5-9)

In God’s eyes, you and I are worth more than any other facet of creation. We alone are made in the divine likeness, the “image of God” (Genesis 1:26-27). We have been imbued with personality, intelligence, and creativity that no other creature can boast. As magnificent as the starry host is, perhaps more remarkable is the ingenuity with which the human mind assembles the stars into the myriad of constellations. No matter the breadth or multitude of the stars above, you and I reflect God’s creative prowess in a peculiar way. We are more wondrous still. God’s uncanny regard for us comes with responsibility on our part. His favor summons our reciprocal love and devotion as stewards of the earth, entrusted with looking after the land, sea, sky, and every creature therein.

How magnificent, indeed, it is to have the affection of such a God. His watchful gaze is on you even now. You are His prized possession.

We praise You, heavenly Father, for Your manifold wonders in creation. Yet, even more astonishing, You have seated us above every creative work as bearers of Your image. Fill us with Your marvelous presence that we may extend Your affection and care throughout the earth.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.