Starry Eyes

When was the last time you took time to pause in wonder, and stand in rapt awe as you stared into the night sky? I am not talking about just a fleeting glance. I am talking about a long lingering look into the heavens.

The problem is we hardly ever look up anymore. We scurry around from task to task so preoccupied with the little things in front of us that we never stop to take in the majestic things above us.

How long has it been since you lay in the grass and looked for Orion’s belt or pointed out the big dipper to your children or grandchildren. Taking valuable time to stare at the stars seems wasteful, frivolous, and maybe even childish to our over-scheduled selves.

In the Navy, my job was Navigator of the ship I was stationed on. My position was on the bridge, one of the highest points of the ship. My favorite time to be up there was on what we called the, “Mid Watch”. That’s the time between Midnight and 4AM in the morning.

I liked this because besides being quiet, we always ran in a minimal lights status. That is to say, all lights on the exterior of the ship were out (except for some small running lights) and any room on the ship that led to the outside, had red lights. This is because we normally didn’t want to be seen.

The great thing about this is I could step outside into a very peaceful world. Stepping out into this was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. All you could see was the stars (literally millions of them), the moon and hear the lapping of the waves alongside of the ship.

Every sense within your self was soaking in something that was one of the most peaceful feelings I have ever experienced. From the beautiful view I described, to the soft warm breeze blowing against your face. From the smell of the ocean to the light salt taste on your lips from the ocean spray. But the stars were always breathtaking.

Psalm 19:1, 2 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

The heavens show us the handiwork of God. The stars are a display of his creativity and his power. The universe is a testimony to his wisdom. If what we see in the sky was made on purpose, then it was made for purpose.

You don’t have to be an astrobiologist to see that not only is the Earth in a prime location for life, but also observation. If we were not at the exact spot that we occupy right now the view would be obscured so much that it would be impossible to make any real observation. Our views would be so compromised that we wouldn’t be able to determine the structure of our own galaxy, much less the universe.

Those aren’t just twinkling little stars in the sky. They are God communicating with us. They are God revealing himself to us. And yet, Human language even when it is inspired by the Holy Spirit will never be able to paint a full and complete picture of God’s glory.

The next time you turn your gaze upward take some time to stare. Because a quick glance upward isn’t enough time for your brain to understand what it is seeing. Just when you begin to grasp the majesty and the complexity of what you are looking at remember, it was all spun off of his fingers. This universe we are so impressed with is his playground.

This view is a testimony not just to his existence, but to his greatness.

Isaiah 40:25, 26 - “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Interesting comparison, isn’t it?

Want to view God's greatness?

I recommend you get some stars in your eyes!

Trust: a risky dive!

Sitting in small group the other day, a great brother in Christ mentioned Bungee Jumping as an analogy for his faith in God. Now I have never bungee jumped but I have cliff dived from 100 feet.

Where I grew up we have these slate mines just outside of town. The way these slate mines worked, is the miners (miners- you know those who dig for resources. Not MINORS – those little people running around the house) dig in a box shaped fashion straight down till they reached the slate. As they dug further and further down, eventually they would hit an underground lake which would fill the mines up with water.

They would then abandon the current mine and start digging in another place. What this achieved was a square shaped lake, with slate walls. These walls would tower from 20 feet to 200+ feet. As kids, we would climb the mountain and emerge at the top of these walls.

The dare was to top the last dive of the previous diver. Now the skill and daring of this is, when they dug straight down, they sometimes would hit rock outcroppings (non-slate type). Instead of removing these outcroppings, they worked around them. So, in diving off the cliffs, you had to make sure to dive where there wasn’t an outcropping.

There were other hazards besides the rock outcroppings. Living in New Jersey, the water maintained a 60 degree temperature or less… cold! There was also the hazard of the higher you jumped the further you went under the water. The deeper you went, the harder it was to see the hazards. And let me also mention, that when you dive in, how you dive regulates whether it hurts or no.

Of course, risk was heavily involved. The higher the dive the harder it was to see the hazards. You relied on a spotter, a close friend to be close to the bottom and tell you where to dive. So besides risk, trust was involved as well. I survived every dive I made but thinking back now, it was a pretty risky thing to do.
I did learn something from this.

Faith means nothing if it doesn’t have risk. Faith and trust go hand in hand, and that means so do faith and risk because trust is a risky business. You can tell me that you trust me to hold your money until you’re blue in the face, but until you have actually put the money into my hands, you haven’t really trusted. It’s the same with faith.

Most of the sermons I’ve heard on the passage about Jesus walking on water have focused on Peter, who finds himself sinking into stormy seas when he begins to doubt Jesus. But if we only focus on the moment that Peter sinks, we will have missed the boat. Literally!

We can focus on Peter sinking if we want to, and it seems like most of us do. But that’s not the whole story. Peter walks on the water. He walks on the water just like Jesus. He sinks after a few steps, yes. But for a brief moment, Peter walked on water.

Peter showed great faith in getting out of the boat and going to Jesus. The reason he sinks is not because it was wrong to get out of the boat. Peter only sinks when that faith waivers. The greatest failure in this story is not Peter but the rest of the disciples, who sat huddled in the boat, still wondering if they were seeing a ghost. Peter’s faith may have been weak, but it was much stronger than the rest of the bunch. Peter had boldness.

Peter does take an incredible risk in getting out of a boat on a dark and stormy night. But the key here is, he doesn’t put out the first toe until Jesus has said to him, “Come.” If Jesus is not anywhere near our boat, we would be crazy to get out and try to walk on water. We can’t do that on our own. But when God appears on the scene, new possibilities open before us and we listen for the guidance of God. And if God says it’s OK, you can take that to the bank (pun intended). We are not called to be reckless, but we are called to trust.

Jesus doesn’t chide the others for staying in the boat, but later it is Peter to whom Jesus says, “You are the rock on which I will build my church.” The church is founded on the one who dared to get out of the boat.

Maybe the kind of risk you are called to has more to do with how you do ministry rather than where you do ministry. Maybe Jesus is standing there outside the boat and calling to you, personally. Maybe God is calling you to a new ministry within the church, or a new job, or a new attitude.

A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for. God calls us to set sail. And once we’re out on the raging sea, we see God and some new possibilities. Jesus is on the water and bids us come.

If you want to walk on water, you must first get out of the boat.

There will be hazards.

The water may be cold.

There may be raging waters and bad storms.

But God has called you out!

Ready to take the dive?