Our Daily Bread devotional, November 19, 2016 - Skywatcher

Topic: Skywatcher [November 19, 2016]

Read: Isaiah 40:21–31, Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 11–13; James 1

He . . . brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Isaiah 40:26

Unsettled by issues at work and at home, Matt decided to take a walk. The evening spring air beckoned. As the infinite sky deepened from blue to black, a thickening fog spilled slowly over the marsh. Stars began to glimmer, heralding the full moon rising in the east. The moment, for Matt, was deeply spiritual. He’s there, he thought. God is there, and He’s got this.

Some people look at the night sky and see nothing but nature. Others see a god as distant and cold as Jupiter. But the same God who “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” also “brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name” (Isa. 40:22, 26). He knows His creation intimately.

It is this personal God who asked His people, “Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’?” Aching for them, God reminded them of the wisdom in seeking Him. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? . . . He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (vv. 27–29).

We are easily tempted to forget God. Our problems won’t disappear with an evening stroll, but we can find rest and certainty that God is always working toward His good purposes. “I’m here,” He says. “I’ve got you.”

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for a night sky that helps us glimpse eternity. We can’t begin to understand it fully, but we know it is there, and we know You are there. Help us trust You for what we don’t know.

We should give God the same place in our hearts that He holds in the universe.

Insight:

Isaiah’s reflections on the greatness of God are as powerful today as when penned centuries ago. Isaiah encourages the hearts of true believers to see the greatness of God in creation and how false, vain, and temporal substitute gods are. We are left with a wonderful awareness of our Creator’s nearness as well as His sustaining power to uphold us in trying circumstances.

This message was written by Tim Gustafson [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]