For the past few months, I haven’t witnessed the starry sky for one simple reason—it wasn’t dark enough. Yes, one of the things that has taken us by surprise since moving to Wales is how long the days are in the summer. With Wales being so far north, the sun rises around 4:00 in the morning and doesn’t set until well after 10:00 in the evening during the summer months. Even after the sun sets, it never truly gets dark. This is one of the main reasons we have light-blocking curtains on the windows. That being the case, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the stars. At least, it had been until a few nights ago.

As I lay in bed, ready to settle in for the night, I noticed a single bright star in the dark night sky. At first, I thought it might have been a plane. It seemed much too bright to be a star. But it lingered and was soon joined by other lights in the sky, all much paler than the first but appreciated nonetheless. The next night, the bright star returned. And the night after that. (Since then, it’s been overcast and rainy, so I haven’t seen the stars for a different reason.)

Each night, as I watched the stars, one thought echoed through my mind—God knows each one by name and knows precisely how many there are. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough to blow my mind!

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. - Isaiah 40:26

I came across this verse this morning and took a few minutes to study it. Most scholars agree that the verse is talking about the stars as they are referenced in the same way in Psalm 147:4. But what caught my attention was the last phrase: “not one faileth.” That phrase literally means, “not one is missing.”

Think about that for a moment. Not one star is missing. No matter how dark or light the sky is. No matter how cloudy or rainy. At no point does God lose track of one of the infinite number of stars. Wow!

When I look at my life and feel like something’s missing, I need to remember that I don’t see the whole picture. I see a few random puzzle pieces, but God is holding the box. But more than that, He created the box! He knows exactly how things are supposed to be and how the puzzle is supposed to look, and He is mighty enough to ensure that not a single piece is missing.

If He cares enough about the stars to know their names and to number each one, how much more does He care for us? We can trust Him. He has everything under control, and nobody puts a puzzle together better than He does.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to do a bit of stargazing.