Count the stars...if you are able

After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield;

your reward will be very great.

But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”  He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.  ~Gen. 15:1-6

My neighborhood doesn't have street lights (thank God) so climbing up on the roof to look at the stars is not entirely fruitless.

I needed space. 

Whatever glint of stars and half-hearted moon I could get would have to be enough. 

When I first laid down on the flat part of my roof that hangs over the back porch, only the half moon was visible amid the deep purple sky, but as my eyes adjusted, tiny flickers of light softly emerged from the darkness, like dust specks that get in your eyes but you can never focus on because they move along with your iris.  I let myself shrink as my sight drifted off into eternity.  I focus on one star and try to realize it isn't a piece of glitter, but a gigantic ball of fire light years away.  I try to imagine how far a light year is. 

Impossible. 

Trees surround my house, so from my view on the roof, the sky is framed by tree tops, so I decided to count the stars in the basin.  I had to start over many times, finally concluding with a rough total of 102.  A moment after, the sky suddenly seemed to deepen and brighten with a trillion more stars as if my vision was suddenly extended by light years.  The vision flashed and was gone.  With all my efforts, I could only count 102 stars, but how many more are really out there! 

I understand why God told Abraham to count the stars.  Imagine how visible they must have been without artificial lighting or pollution anywhere on the planet!

God could have said, "What, you don't trust me, Abraham?  Fine, count to a zillion.  What?  You don't even know what a zillion is?  Well it's a massive number that would take you years to count to.  Your offspring will be more than that number!"

But He didn't.  He brought Abraham out to look at the stars.  Not only were they impossible to count, they were beautiful, incomprehensible.  Abraham didn't know what they were made of, how far away they were, how or when they appeared... but God knew them all by name.  

Creation declares His glory.