"He also made the stars..."

**The inspiration for today's post comes from a message I once heard in church. I was reading Genesis 1 the other morning and was reminded of this message and wanted to share my thoughts on it... **

A couple of weeks ago I was spending some time on a farm in the countryside in Limpopo, South Africa.

I was very blessed to have the opportunity to relax on the grass one evening and lie gazing up at the beautiful galaxy that surrounds us. It was a cloudless night and I could see hundreds of stars peeking down at earth. For somebody who lives in an unfortunately rather smog-covered city, it was really quite a wonderful opportunity to experience the fresh air and beautiful night sky and I cherished the opportunity to admire God's amazing creation...

Having seen such vast, undeniable beauty it can be somewhat of a suprise for me to read Genesis 1:16. Im sure that you are well aware that this chapter highlights the story of creation but there is a small phrase that I feel has enormous significance...

"He also made the stars."

Why did the author of this passage choose to include the word, "also" into this statement? One only really has to glance at a clear night sky to see that creating all the stars in the heavens should not really be considered an easy feat yet the way that it is worded in the passage makes it seem that it was somewhat of an afterthought...

I think, however, that using that specific wording in this sense was not simply a grammatical statement but was rather a subtle reminder of how great and majestic the God we serve is.

While the stars seem so vast and magnificent to me, they were simply "finishing touches" to His creation. The vast and mighty things in my eyes are the "extras" in His and that serves to remind me of just how big, mighty and powerful the God that I serve is. 

I can barely keep a plant alive for more than a week, let alone create anything nearly as beautiful as the smallest things that He has created, so for me this passage gives me a very frighteningly real perspective on how big He is.     

Sometimes, as sad as it is to admit, I think I try and put God into a box in my mind...In my prayers there are times when I almost "give Him my shoppng list" of all the things that I long for in my life and forget just how amazingly big He is. While I think that He loves us enough to want to know all our thoughts and hearts desires I do think that it is important to remember who we are talking to, and praise Him accordingly for that.

You may feel really tiny after imagining God in this way, but that in itself highlights just how amazing what He did for us was. 

In comparison to the creator of the universe, we might not seem very big and important... But because of who He is, He was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save us, even though we could never add anything to His might or glory.

Look up at the stars-He must be an amazing God!