Remembering the Stars

“Then he asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’ Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah.’ Mark 8:29.

Kherington, my youngest grandchild has always been intrigued by my morning ritual. I grab my coffee, my Bible and my Bible Study and go into a private area of my home. About an hour later I emerge, and our time together begins. A few years ago, on Spring Break she came out on the porch of a condo we rented that overlooked the beautiful ocean. She tiptoed out there and sat quietly as the gentle breeze touched her face like a morning kiss. She has always respected my study time, and has always treated it with reverence. Later that day, we were in the car and she mentioned that sometimes she wondered where God was. She explained that she could not hear Him or see Him, so at times she wondered if He was really there. She went on to say that when she started feeling that way, she asked herself, ‘Who put the stars in the sky? Who made the beach? Who makes the car run?’ She went on to question more things, and at the end she said the answer to everything is God. I was blown away! That smart little 9-year-old girl is living out a principle that many of us need to remember. When we begin to doubt God, we must remind ourselves of His awesome power. We must remember that just because we cannot see Him or hear Him doesn’t mean He is not present. When we look around our world like she does, we must recognize His awesome works in our past to speak hope into our present.

Jesus asked Peter a couple thousand years ago, ‘But who do you say I am?’ He is still asking every one of us the same question. So, in the spirit of my granddaughter I will respond to this question of old. ‘I say that you are the One who forgave me, and pursued me. I say that you God are the one who snatches your children out of the hands of darkness. You, God, are the one who sees when our loved ones have experienced enough, and you whisk them home to Heaven. You are the One who comforts our hearts, and heals our heartache. You will be the One to answer my long-running deep desires that I carry in my heart. You alone will be the One who provides…who blesses…who restores…who redeems. You have been all of this in my past, and will be so much more in future.

'Who do you say He is?' This morning, I stand shoulder to shoulder with Peter and Kherington when I say to Him, ‘You are the Messiah!’ He is Father, Savior and Spirit all in One, and has authority over every living thing and the answer to every single question in our circumstances. So today whatever you face, remember the stars.