Can You Count the Stars?

Recently I was reading a Bible story book with my three-year old daughter, Evelyn. God tells Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. So, naturally, Evelyn started counting. She found 17 stars. How many stars can you count in the sky? None of us can count the stars. Based on the estimates scientists throw out there, I highly doubt any of them have taken the time to try. And yet, even though we fail that simple little challenge, for some reason we still buy into the lie that God doesn’t understand us, or know us, or care about us. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So far I’ve been talking in these blogs about what we learn from the fact that God is our Creator. Here’s today’s truth: God’s creation teaches me that God intimately understands me. As Creator, God knows everything and is everywhere. His great knowledge comes from his exalted position on high from which he sees all (Ps. 14:2). Meditate on this gem for a while, it’s one of my favorites:

“He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.”
~Psalm 147:4-5

God knows how many stars there are because he made them all! And he made you and me. God’s unlimited knowledge of us can be either a comfort or a conviction, depending on what kind of a person you are. The Psalms divide all of humanity into two simple categories- the righteous and the wicked.

God Knows the Wicked

God tells us he “notes mischief and vexation” and will act justly on behalf of the fatherless (Ps. 10:14a; 21:8). God has choice words for those who abuse other people, a topic I will write about in much further detail later on. God takes sin against other people seriously, and so should you. It is no laughing matter. God will not overlook sin; he will judge the wicked.

God Knows the Righteous

On the other hand, for those who come to God through Jesus Christ, in faith believing and confessing their sins, he gives them the right to be his children (Jn. 1:12-13). And it is a wonderful thing to be a child of God. Here’s why:

“As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”
~Psalm 103:13-14

Psalm 139 develops this unique theme extensively. God’s knowledge of us is personal (vv. 1-2), thorough (vs. 2), unbound by time (vs. 4), providential (vs. 5), and beyond our ability to comprehend (vs. 6). As Jonah found out, God’s knowledge of us is inescapable (vv. 7-13).

Isn’t wonderful to know you are understood? In contrast, how awkward is it when you feel as if you can’t connect with someone? God understands you like no one else. He knows your weaknesses, temptations, limitations and frustrations. He knows how to compassionately bear with you during your greatest wins and biggest failures. That is a comforting truth for today, but it also offers hope for the future. In Christ, the righteous need not fear in the day of judgment (Ps. 1:6; 11:4c-5a; 17:2a).

A Matter of Life and Death

Because God’s knowledge of us and plans for us are unbound by time, God tells us he has wonderful plans for us even in the womb (vv. 4, 15-16). God views life in the womb as his divine quilting project. Destroying his delicate and beautiful “quilts” is murder. We have no right to interfere. God even views us as taking sides with the wicked when we abuse life in the womb. Most of my readers would heartily agree with me on this, but if you disagree with me, I gently submit to you this question- can you count the stars? Do you call them all by name? If God created and named every star, how much more does he care about every baby in the womb? I encourage you to click on the passages I reference and see what God has said.

Childlike Trust

On a more positive note, God can deliver you from the “hidden traps” (Ps. 142:3) that lie in your path today. But, for him to show us the way, we need to turn to him like a child. We need to submit our plans and our way to his sovereign care. We need to confess any sin that has put us in the camp of the wicked. We need to relinquish our “rights” that we cling to, and instead trust God’s Word. Then we will find understanding, forgiveness, and grace. God’s creation teaches me that God intimately understands me. If he does, then I can trust that he knows what is best.

C.P.