“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3–4, ESV)
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…
Heavenly Father, I constantly find myself in amazement of who you are and what you’ve done. As I go throughout my day, I’m surrounded by incredible glory. I walk by trees and leaves and flowers and birds and insects. I walk on dirt and rocks and grass. I feel the breeze and the sun against my skin. It’s incredible, Father. You made it all. Each one is glorious. Each one is complex beyond my imagination. Every blade of grass has multitudes of cells working together. Every ray of sunshine has traveled 93 million miles to warm my face. It’s amazing.
Then, Father, night comes, but your creation doesn’t stop praising you. The rays from the sun take a “bank shot” off the moon and shine on the earth. The moon changes shapes and changes tides in the ocean. Then, I look beyond the moon and see the stars. They are everywhere, shining from every corner of the universe. It’s hard for me to grasp that most of these stars are bigger than our sun. They’re THAT far away. The closest stars are 25 trillion miles away. The furthest stars are beyond human comprehension.
Your creation is larger than my brain can handle. Yet, you created it with the breath of your mouth and you rule over it with ease. You’re an awesome God.
What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Father, as I lay on my back and stare up at the stars, I can’t help but feel small. Who could feel large while looking at trillions of starts trillions of miles away? The stars put me in my place. I have a tendency to think I’m a big deal—pretty important. At times I think You need me to accomplish your work. When I see the stars, I realize how ridiculous that is. Rather than thinking I’m a “big deal,” I find myself asking, “Who am I?” and “Why do you care?” These are questions I often try to overlook and ignore, but the vastness of your creation will not allow me to forget. That’s why you made it this big, isn’t it?
Father, the longer I think about this, the more powerful it is. You have created this massive universe to give us a taste of how BIG You are and how SMALL we are. Yet, you still care about us. You watch over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our head apart from Your will. You can watch over the hairs on my head AND the trillions of stars trillions of miles away.
Father, this gives me so much peace. In the grand scheme of things, I’m not a big deal. I’m very small. Yet, your “bigness” doesn’t separate You from my “smallness.” You are not a big God preoccupied with “bigger things.” You are a big God concerned with big and small things—even small things like me. That gives me peace because it stirs up faith and trust in my heart. I am a small person with a big God. What an amazing truth! With this in mind, I can live each day acknowledging my “smallness” and trusting in your “bigness.” Thank you, Father! Amen.