Fog was thick and heavy this morning and the frost hung everywhere, but by this evening there was enough empty sky to allow a glimpse of some of the wondrous star constellations that we have above us in the winter months.

The picture shows Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. This star and the constellation Orion have always gave me a sense of wonder. For thousands of years man has looked up at the night sky and just wondered, it just goes beyond comprehension how everything came here.

For some searching the stars was their start of their faith, such as the wise magi that followed the star of Bethlehem. Whether that star was a conjunction of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn (in 7BC) or Whether it was Sirius, or just a supernatural event created by God to lead people we will probably never know. Sometimes we have to just accept that our minds are limited. Gods mind is not limited!

I find there are moments in the day that just seem to hit you right between the eyes, suddenly all the things you have been thinking about just seem to make sense at that point, or a simple phrase that someone says is suddenly amplified so as to make it stand out.

Today whilst I was trying my best to sing a hymn “I can not tell” by William Young Fullerton, I had one of those moments. It hit me so hard that I found I was struggling to sing, or even to stop tears from coming to my eyes. My throat was swelling up with emotion as the words of verse three just sang out;

Verse 3 – I can not tell – William Young Fullerton

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
How He will claim His earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of East and West, of sinner and of sage

There used to be a time when I was really interested in how the Earth was created by God and there is much compelling evidence to put pretty much any point of view across, but in the end it is useless to try to reason with other people about God in this way, because if we do we are missing the point. We will never know.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God……..

This is the only phrase I need to talk about this Earth and all the constellations and amazing things upon it. Perhaps man is one of the the most lavishly created things from God, but let us not deviate from any word – for God created humankind.

But what about the hymn? I was welling up with emotion because I realised that the world is in a sorry state and we will never on our own solve all these evil deeds across the earth. Only God who has worked out how it will all come together will make His plan come to fruition in the times that He has picked. It seems quite apt to be talking about God pulling the whole of the Earth together to bow on one knee before Him, in a week that is devoted to praying for Christian unity.

But not being able to understand how God created the world doesn’t stop us from understanding why. He created it for us to enjoy, and manage, and to explore and all the other things that we humans excel at – but not to defy Him, or hate, or kill, or any of the other numerous sins.

Paul says to the Corinthians;

1 Corinthians 2:1

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God

It is true that we will not bring many to the faith by talking fine words or by trying to argue about how something was created, but only by talking about Christ crucified on the cross, our sin dead, and resurrected for life eternal to be our God and King.

1 Corinthians 2:9

9 But as it is written:

 But rest assured that God has prepared a wondrous journey for us. Perhaps not a life of comfort or constant luxury or even pleasures that we want, but we are to inherit a wondrous life led by the Spirit which listens for all the words of Jesus, who wants a life full of love for each of us.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

It is good just to know that we all have the Spirit within us, or all have that gift if we only accept Jesus Christ as our saviour with an open heart.

I pray that we may all listen to that inner voice and act upon it to live a God full life, doing the will of the Father, through the Son and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Amen

With blessings 

Graham