There's something about the stars tonight

"When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?"
-Psalm 8:3-4

They light the night sky. They are so far away, and to us only seem like pin pricks of light, but there is just something about them that causes me to stare in awe and wonder every night I see them. There are few things I enjoy more than being in the country or up in the mountains where I can really see the stars well. I will never get tired of looking at their beauty for as long as I live.

I painted this about 3 years ago, but every time I see it, I am reminded of what inspired me to put it down on canvas. On the clearest of summer nights in the countryside of Virginia I walked outside and looked up at the vast array of stars God had placed in the sky-just because he could and he wanted to. The field in front of me was glowing intermittently with the thousands of tiny lighting bugs, the forest beyond that-pitch black for absence of man-made lights while the sky above was breathtaking. I stood there alone, but not. I knew God was with me and he was speaking to me about his character through his creation. He created these stars,so far away, so huge, just to proclaim his power to us. And in that moment I knew-that if God could create things like the sky and stars-things that we will never fully understand, that he could do ANYTHING in my life. I am just a small part of this world and his plan. The way I portrayed this in the painting is that God can look down on me (or anyone) and see our lives how we see them, but he can also see the rest of the world and the universe just as well as he sees our own individual lives.

A favorite:
"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain." Philippians 2:14-16