The first picture above is a close up of the picture below it, click on the pics to make them larger; the title in the ESO says: This image from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows the bright star cluster NGC 6520 and its neighbour, the strange gecko-shaped dark cloud Barnard 86. This cosmic pair is set against millions of glowing stars from the brightest part of the Milky Way — a region so dense with stars that barely any dark sky is seen across the picture.
What appear to be clouds is nothing but a multitude of stars; the reason I'm posting this is because when I saw it I immediately thought about Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
(Psalm 19:1-3 ESV)
Last night I stepped out to the back yard and looked up to the sky, I could only see about, maybe, less than one percent of what those pictures show. It made me feel very small and insignificant.
Sometimes I feel forsaken, I feel left out, run down, spent, worn, depressed, in darkness; do you ever feel like that? Like none of your plans have come to fruition, all your dreams have been shattered, your heart has been broken, and there is no use in continuing to live? I do, and many times I feel no joy of life.
Is that bad? No, it is not bad to feel like that, in fact I think it is normal; I don't belong here, I'm really not of this world, and neither are you if you have the same faith I do; I am not meant to have satisfaction in this fallen world, I was made for glory, for eternal bliss.
Are you depressed today? Have you been crying lately? I have; and I have to remind you that you are not meant to be happy apart from Jesus. Do like David, go out to the backyard and look up to the sky, see the glory of God on display, and meditate on those words, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.
You are His handiwork. Those billions of stars were put up there to remind you that you have a God who cares, a God who will never leave you nor forsake you, a God with whom you are at peace, a real God with a big G, who holds you in the palm of His hand and who will not allow anything or anyone to snatch you out of His grip; He will not let you go, ever.
The way we feel sometimes is a contradiction of the truth as expressed in God's word; our circumstances are all ordained from before the foundation of the world, and there is a definite plan for our lives that is being unfolded as the days go by. The proof of what I'm saying is that every single morning I wake up and I still believe the gospel; the faith that God gave me is still there, and not only that, He proves to me that He still cares and supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Even when my feelings are contradictory to the truth, they are true feelings, they are real in my world; I am in real pain, in real need of comfort, in real need of compassion and mercy, and I need real grace. And the fact is that God really cares about the way I feel and the way I seem to suffer ( and I say 'seem' because what I go through is nothing compared to what my brothers and sisters are going through in other parts of the world); His word is full of statements that declare that He understands my infirmities, my temptations and my need of forgiveness; and I have been forgiven in a real tangible way since the blood of Jesus was real human blood.
So much so that He has given me authority to walk boldly into the throne room of grace; He in fact commands me to do it, 'come in, leave that thing right there and just come in child; you are accepted in the Beloved; you are clean'; those are beautiful words, those are great and holy thoughts that bring glory to Jesus, my mediator.
Star cluster NGC 6520 is a very real reminder that lifts my mind to the heavens and looks into the love of God specifically for me; it is the proof that Psalm 19 is true, the very words of God for me today; it is by His awesome power and mighty strength that not one of those stars is missing and He knows them all by name; I am more important than the smallest one of them, and He knows my name in a way that is real, unlike the wicked to whom He declares "Depart from Me, I never knew you'.
God knows my name; come on, say it: God knows me.
The bright star cluster NGC 6520 and its neighbour, the strange gecko-shaped dark cloud Barnard 86; are screaming the glory of God their creator, day to day they shout that God knows His children, you and I. That is real comfort, displayed for us to digest through our eyes so we can enter into His rest.
Have a nice week.
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