Stars over Haiti

I wish I had a photo to give you even a glimpse of the stars over Haiti. It was breathtaking. They did not seem like your normal stars. There were layers and layers of stars. If I knew the names of the constellations I could have picked out a dozen or more without hesitation. I stared up in wonder, thinking about my family at home and knowing they could look up at the same starry sky. Then it hit me. My family had the same beautiful starry sky that I did ,but why did it not look the same at home? Was it the clouds that had been hanging around lately, the lights of the city? What kept me from seeing this majesty at home?

Hatian life is simple. When God "turns off the lights" then for the most part so do they. Most places do not have electricity. They plan their big meal of the day at lunch presumably because dinner time is dark. Out in the village of Pignon we visited a church until after dark and though it sounds silly they only lights around were operated by battery generators and their cell phone screens. I rode a bumpy, long ride home on the back of a truck, staring again into the night sky feeling His presence like the dusting of the stars.

At home, life is busy. Some days I don't stop until my head hits the pillow, much less have time to stop and stare in wonder. That same beautiful sky is right above me and I am not taking the time to "draw near". Sure, as Americans, we have created an environment to "hide" the stars with our city lights, pollution, and busy, quick lives. But isn't that the problem with our world today? We always seem to "hide" God in our problems, busy lives, and excuses. We only take the opportunity to stare into His face when we can no longer handle the problems anymore and we want his quick fix. I long to see the stars here at home like I did in Haiti. He put them there for all to see, to show his majesty and his beauty. Perhaps even to show off a little and give the future scientist some things to figure out. Not only do I long to see the stars, but I long to see His hand. The one that never lets go of us, but the one we choose to distance ourselves from. One of my many lessons in Haiti... God is the same no matter where we go, how we choose to hide ourselves, and no matter what we do to try to distance ourselves from Him. He is always right there just like the stars in the sky ready for us to gaze into his majesty and find comfort in His hand. We just have to take the time to look.

Genesis 1:15-17

¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth,