Every August the debris from a comet enters into the earth’s atmosphere producing a spectacular light show. The debris appears to come from the constellation Perseus, so this meteor shower is called the Perseids. Meteor showers speak of reality beyond the air that we breathe, realities far beyond human control.
The streaking beauty across the night sky speaks to the magnificence of God’s creation. But not all acknowledge that it is the hand of God that hurls these lights before our eyes. Instead of bowing before the awesome power of God, random chance or some set of arbitrarily selected laws of science is given the credit. Of course there are advantages to denying God’s presence and his control of the Perseids. Chance has nothing to say to the heart, nothing to say about lifestyle choices and nothing to say about heaven or hell.
Chance is an attractive ruler, at least on the surface. But chance turns pain into bitterness. It turns failure into despair and loss into hopelessness. Chance offers only emptiness when you look in the mirror. Still blindness persists. Bowing to God means giving up control, even if that control is an illusion. Chance means exchanging the truth of God for a lie. And in the exchange personal chaos or personal delusion reign.
The alternative is to see the Perseids for what they are — markers that point to the great Lord of the Universe. The beauty of these meteor showers against the backdrop of the Milky Way defies description. They remind us of our smallness. God has purposefully left his signature in the skies for all to see.
Millennia ago a man had questions for God, but first God had questions for him and for you.
“Can you direct the movement of the stars—
binding the cluster of the Pleiades
or loosening the cords of Orion?
Can you direct the constellations through the seasons
or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
Do you know the laws of the universe?
Can you use them to regulate the earth?”
As you think on these questions plead with God for mercy that you would bow before him and his royal Son.