by Pam Benedict

The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech and night after night, they display knowledge.  Psalm 19:1

Ever since Justin was a little boy, he has been fascinated with everything pertaining to space.

As a toddler he excitedly pointed to the sky and exclaimed, “Mommy!  Moon see!”

As a preschooler, he declared he was going to be an astronaut someday.  His enthusiasm was contagious, so we arranged glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling and covered his bed with a comforter containing all the planets.  And every children’s picture book written about outer space, we checked out of the local library.

In elementary school he read and absorbed every fact and figure about that “final frontier”.  As he was researching, he told us about the Perseids meteor showers that usually peaked the second week of August.  When we were kids, we called them “shooting stars”, but he informed us they were dust bits of meteors that burned up when they hit our atmosphere.

So, Justin & I started an annual tradition of star gazing and meteor
watching when the Perseids came to town.   We’d spread our blanket on the grass in our front yard, focus on the nighttime sky and begin to count the blazes across the galaxy.  Sometimes we’d stare for 15 minutes and not notice anything, and other times we’d excitedly exclaim and point every minute.  Some years clouds blocked our view. Once or twice we had a hectic week and realized with dismay that we had missed our special event.

Since Manassas, VA was a high-density suburb with miles of strip malls and thousands of homes, we didn’t have the dark sky the scientists recommended.  We still spotted plenty of meteor showers, but we knew that we were missing some because of the light pollution.  When we moved to Lancaster County, we anticipated a spectacular show surrounded by dark farm fields, and we were not disappointed.  Last week we drove up and over Welsh Mountain and parked in the driveway of the KOA campground.  We spread our blanket, put our heads on the pillows and eagerly awaited the show.  Soon we were rewarded with flashes streaking across the sky and were again joyfully pointing at the view. At one point we both gasped and said, “What was that??” as we witnessed what seemed to be a massive explosion in one pinpoint spot in the heavens.  A few times we made brief comments about the glory and majesty of our Creator, but mostly we reclined on the grass in silence for much of the time, soaking in the beauty and counting the breathtaking swipes of light.  Angels enjoyed waving their sparklers that night.

The next day I Googled information about meteor showers and was surprised to learn that on any given night there are 2-7 meteors that streak across the sky PER HOUR.  What? With the exception of Perseids, I am usually excited if I see 2 PER YEAR!  Why haven’t I seen these meteor showers before?  I missed them because I wasn’t looking for them. Clouds, light pollution, busyness, forgetfulness, and distractions keep me from seeing them.

I re-read Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God day after day and night after night and yet we often miss seeing His glory as well. What stops us from observing the glory of God? –  the exact same thing.

We miss seeing His glory because we aren’t looking for it, or we aren’t carving out the time to sit still and focus on Him.  Sometimes we miss seeing His glory because clouds of hurtful circumstances temporarily block our view of Hm.  Other times we are distracted by the cares of life on earth and forget what is eternal.

Even as I was sifting through the information about “shooting stars”, I noticed how distracting the flashing ads were to the left and to the right of the article I was reading.  Businesses, political candidates, and nonprofits were all trying to get a few minutes (or hours) of my attention.

God’s glory is all around us, every hour, every day.  It’s in the light filtering through the corn fields, in the smile of a little child, in the smell of freshly ground coffee beans, in the pitter patter of rain drops on the window. Day after day He reveals Himself.  Night after night He displays His knowledge.  Pause a moment after reading this and search for His glory.  Praise Him.  Rest in Him.  Tonight, take one minute to revel in His glorious sunset.  Step outside for a moment before bed and gaze up at His majestic nighttime sky.  His glory is everywhere.  Don’t miss it.

make sure to watch to the end for a tender reminder from Scripture about our Savior’s love and imminent return.