He Knows the Stars by Name
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So many times when I've prayed for Ukraine, I've asked the Lord how to pray. One word keeps coming through loud and clear - hope! I can't begin to imagine how discouraging and hopeless the situation must be for the dear people there. Without hope - some measure of hope - I don't know how they can keep going. Hope is what carries us through difficult times. There is immense power in hope.
Hope is something we all need in the situations we face. Whatever we are trying to "make it" through, we need hope - a hope that is rooted in God giving us grace and strength to keep going. We so often hope "for what we do not see." We can't do that without God's help. In fact, our hope reveals our trust in the God who sees everything.
I've noticed that when we've been stretched over and over, we come to a place where we think "that's enough." We can feel we're at our limit - we can't be stretched more. And then God takes us further and deeper into lessons He has for us. I can't begin to count how many times this has happened in my life - and certainly in the last few years. I've thought, and said, "enough" a number of times.
Hope is what keeps me going. Hope that God won't stretch me too far. Hope that He will give me all I need. Hope that good will come from hard situations. Hope that His grace really is sufficient for my every need. This kind of hope is what allows me to survive - and to persevere. No one is hopeless who knows the God of hope!
"A person can endure almost anything as long as he has hope; as long as he can believe there may come a change for the better. He can put up with privation; he can stand severe hardship; he can accept harsh confinement; he can live with discomfort; he can be patient through long illness. Hope works in these ways:
Hope looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst.
Hope opens doors when despair closes them.
Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot.
Hope draws its power from a deep trust in god and His ability to redeem all men.
Hope regards problems, small or large, as opportunities.
Hope cherishes no illusions, nor does it yield to cynicism.
Hope sets big goals and is not frustrated by repeated difficulties or setbacks.
Hope pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit.
Hope puts up with modest gains, realizing that "the longest journey starts with one step."
Hope accepts misunderstandings as the price for serving the greater good of others.
Hope "lights a candle" instead of "cursing the darkness."
(taken from Village Times, YWAM Kona, 1981)
"Hope does not disappoint." Romans 5:5
"Why are you cast down, O my soul?...Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him." Psalm 42:5
"Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees. But if we have hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." Romans 8:24,25
"For you are my hope, O Lord God." Psalm 71:5
I'm asking God for fresh hope in my heart today - for the people of Ukraine, and for you and me as we walk through the difficulties we are facing. I know God will be faithful to all of us!
While my thoughts and prayers have been lifted up continually for Ukraine, I've also had several other serious matters on my heart. It can get a bit heavy and overwhelming at times. I heard a story this week that was really helpful to me.
A minister was addressing a group. He held up a large piece of paper with a single black dot in the middle of it - and asked everyone what they saw. Person after person replied that they saw a black dot. He kept asking what else they saw, but no one had a different answer. Finally he told them that they missed the most important thing - the large piece of paper.
The message, of course, is that we often get distracted by something "small" and we miss the big things. The Lord used this to remind me of lessons He has taught me the last few years on our unexpected journey. In the midst of the roller coaster ups and downs of trials, He spoke to me over and over again about worship and counting my blessings. When I focus on Him and on all the good things in my life, the difficult things I'm facing get into their proper place......they are in God's hands. He's working in them, and helping me with them. It was such a good reminder. I'm now looking at the large sheet of paper instead of focusing on the little black dot!!!
I also came across an article that talked about the number of stars in the universe. A conservative estimate puts the number at 200 billion trillion, or 200 sextillion.
That's 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That's a LOT of stars. I actually found several different totals listed but this was the most consistent number. I guess we really don't know the true number - only God does!!
The Bible says God "counts the stars and calls them all by name." (Psalm 147:4) To put it in perspective, that's more than 10,000 stars for each grain of sand on earth. I live near a sand covered beach.....lots of grains of sand.....and lots of beaches on earth.....and that many stars for each grain of sand. Put another way, it's 10 times the number of cups of water in all the oceans of the earth.
Just stop and think about all that for a minute. The numbers are utterly mind boggling. I can't hardly wrap my brain around them. Soooo many stars, and God has a name for them all!! And yet, He is mindful about each and every one of us. He is aware of what we are facing. He cares about every burden we bear. He is with us continually and helping us with what we are going through. He never leaves us, never forsakes us, never gets too busy to help us. He knows the names of those sextillion stars, and He still knows Sally Ann McClung in Cape Town, South Africa. I'm in awe of His greatness. He is definitely the "large sheet of paper" and I'm often just focusing on the little black dot.
"I create the light and make the darkness." Isaiah 45:7
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10
"By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me." Psalm 42:8
There have been a few times at night when I've watched the International Space Station (ISS) move rapidly above us here. It's quite amazing to see. And yet - there are many billion trillion stars beyond them. Our wonderful creator God is beyond our comprehension, but He is caring for us day by day, moment by moment. I worship Him!