Sacred Places & Spaces, Part II. The Stars that Decorate the Sky of Stadium Drive.
This is part two of a series of posts I am writing, which discusses certain places and spaces on the Tabor College campus that have become sacred and meaningful to me throughout the course of the past four years.
The Stars that Decorate the Sky of Stadium Drive
There are only two things I can stare at for an extended amount of time:
1. Tim Tebow's biceps and
2. The Stars
So #1 may be a little creepy, but I think most girls my age would applaud me on this and wholeheartedly agree. I stand unashamed because my element of creepiness decreases when there are a good number of other creepy females who sing a little too seriously, "I'm gonna climb in dem windows and snatch Tebow up."
I am convinced there are only a handful of places on this earth where the stars shine brighter than in Kansas.
I don't know much about stars, how big they are, or how far away they hang in the galaxy. I must confess, it took me an embarrasingly good while to find the Little Dipper. I'm not a Science person, but I do have Science friends, so I suppose that gives me a passing grade on somewhat knowing what the Milky Way is.
Stars, for me however, are bigger than their simple state of being.
Stars are symbolic of something greater.
In Genesis 12, God promises tell Abraham He is going to make him into a great nation with countless offspring. But there is one problem. Abraham & Sarah are kind past the baby-making age. Bummer.
So the only way God can fulfill His promise to Abraham is through a miracle.
In Genesis 15, Abraham was wrestling with doubt, to which he asks God, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless? . . . You have given me no children."
And this is when God flexes his creative-making muscles.
God takes Abraham out to see the stars.
Genesis 15:5 says, "God took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'"
BAM.
I can only imagine what Abraham might of thought. Oh the endless possible conversation starters around the dinner table that night with his 90 year-old wife, Sarah.
"So, honey. . . God told me we are gonna have as many offspring as the stars . . . I guess we'd better get busy. . ."
One statistic I found said this about the stars:
"There are about 2,500 stars visible to the naked eye at any one point at any one time on the Earth, and 5,800-8,000 total visible stars. But this is a very tiny fraction of the stars the Milky Way is thought to have! Astronomers estimate that there are 200 billion to 400 billion stars contained within the Milky Way."
I can hardly balance my checkbook, so this number is outrageous to me. I would need a lot more than a scientific calculator and a finance-major husband to help me wrap my mind around those kind of numbers.
Things gets sweeter later in Scripture.
Galations 3:28-29 says,
" . . . You are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
So the offspring God was talking about where the spiritual offspring Abraham would have through the lineage of Isaac and David, which would ultimately bring Jesus Christ into the world.
Gamechanger.
So this may sound weird, but when I look at the stars, I like to believe they symbolize the souls that belong to the Lord.
And when I look at the stars, I am reminded of a truth that will never change: God is faithful to fulfill His promises.
That is why the dark sky of stadium drive is a sacred space for me. Beginning junior year, I would end my late-night runs there and sit under the canvas of God's creative hand.
In those moments when I was tempted to doubt God's goodness, I needed something tangible to whisper, God is faithful, God is faithful, God is faithful.
Stars remind me how small I am and how good God is. He didn't have to decorate the darkness, but He still chose to.
So next time you are going through a dark season, go out and look at the stars. Think of Abraham and his barren wife and think of all the Christians that are on this earth today.
Then let the stars become more than bright celestial beings.
Let them be reminders that God is faithful to fulfill his promises.
Let them be reminders that God is faithful to fulfill his promises.
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