Wednesday Wisdom -- a good reminder

After Bible study this evening I stopped at Target and Meijer to pick up a few items that I wasn't able to get at Valli's and Jewel.  As usual, I bought too much.

When I left Meijer, I noticed the moon.  It was beautiful -- bright white and a little more than half full.  I caught a few more glimpses of it as I drove home.  Safely in my driveway, I got out of the car and glanced up again at the sky.  This time I couldn't see the moon, but what I could see very clearly were hundreds of brightly shining stars.

In spite of the lights from the streets and houses in the neighborhood, the stars stood out distinctly, glittering like brilliant diamonds on a vast expanse of darkest navy velvet.  I was tired and cold, and even though the warmth of my house beckoned, I stood transfixed, head tilted back, gazing at the beauty strewn across the heavens.

Whenever I look at the stars, I can't help but think of a verse from the first chapter of James:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.    

What a beautiful word picture!  James describes God the Father, the Creator of the Universe and all that inhabits it, as "the Father of the heavenly lights."  And so He is, for on the fourth day He brought them into being and set them in place. 

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:14-18

The breathtaking stars that I was in awe of this evening are the very same stars that the Lord God placed in the heavens to light the night sky long ago on the fourth day of Creation.  And moreover, each one of these stars is visible proof  of God's good and perfect gifts to the world.  

All of creation testifies to the reality of God's goodness and perfection.  His good, perfectly chosen gifts for man are on display everywhere we look -- and even when we don't look, even when we aren't able to see God's good provision for us, it is always present.  God's goodness toward us never fades or disappears. 

James also tells us that the Father does not change like shifting shadows.  We can completely trust God because He is constant and unchanging and there is no darkness in Him.  Likewise, we can know beyond any doubt that the gifts he gives are always good and perfect because He Himself is good and perfect and accordingly, his gifts to us will flawlessly reflect his character.

I pray that I will never take God's good and perfect gifts for granted or turn aside from them to seek the counterfeit "gifts" of the world that masquerade as good but lead instead to sin and death.  As I look at the night sky may I always be reminded of my good and perfect Father, the Father of the heavenly lights, who has given the most perfect gift of all to those who choose to receive it -- the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!  2 Corinthians 9:15