God's Love Written in the Stars

God is love. Creation bears His love letters, written personally to us. My friend, Julie, found God's love for her in the stars of an African sky.

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By Julie

The gentle rocking motion of the camel steadily treading across the sand was lulling me into a daze. The sun was bright and warm on my face. A gentle, cool breeze made it the perfect day to be riding camels across the Sahara desert.  We were taking a one-day journey out to visit a small nomadic tribe for the night. I turned on some worship music and spent the next hour singing to the God who'd made the breathtaking scenery that reflected His beauty all around me.

We arrived in early evening, unloaded the tired camels, and enjoyed tea and sour goat milk with the family who was hosting us for the night. Once the sun had set and stars were shining bright, I snuck away to sit on top of a nearby sand dune to wait on dinner.

As I looked up at the clear sky and the billions upon billions of stars twinkling bright, I couldn't help but think of the creator of those stars. Here I sat, in the middle of nowhere with a group of people who didn't know they could be near to the creator of those stars. I knew it was no accident that I was there. I had truth they desperately needed to hear. Their eternal destiny hinged on the information I knew and they were completely unaware of. I felt the weight of that truth. I knew I was supposed to share my story of how God drew near to me through the straight path of Jesus with our English-speaking friend. I knew this and I felt timidness creep in. I sat and prayed for God to pour out His boldness over me.

And then I asked God that if He really did want me to share would He please send me a shooting star. As soon as I'd finished my prayer I laughed and realized how stupid it was. I knew, really knew that I was supposed to share. God has made me a new creation in Him through Jesus. I am both a daughter of the King and an ambassador of His truth. So with a hint of embarrassment I told God to cancel that shooting star request.

But God.

Rich in mercy. Abounding in grace. Generous with his unfailing, steadfast, overflowing, undeserved love knew this little child of his needed a gift, a small reminder.

All through our dinner of couscous, which seemed to have been seasoned with sand, I fought the fear. My timid, scared, fearful old self seemed to have taken over. I kept telling myself to speak but my mouth refused. So bite, after gritty bite, I chewed in silence, desperately asking God for some boldness.

After dinner, as the seven of us sat perched across the top of a dune, all eyes fixed on the glorious night sky, the largest, brightest, longest shooting star I've ever seen trailed across the sky. My heart flooded with warmth and I asked excitedly if anyone else had seen it. All eyes were looking right at where the star fell.  How could they have missed that?! Yet not a single one had noticed.

Thank you God. I knew it was His gift just for me. My heart overflowed with His love. In that moment He whispered to me that His love is given so that I can give it away.

Given, so that.

I pondered on those words.

Given, so that.

My heart was full, so that I could share the greatest gift of love, the biggest display of God's love for us, Jesus. My heart had been filled with love, so that I would speak out the purest message of love with our friend who didn't know.

The star, God's tiny reminder, was exactly what my heart needed that night. The timid heart was gone. Boldness washed over me, so that I was able to say, "Friend, I want to share with you how I became near to God."

God's love is more than enough so that I can give it away and never be empty. Will you pass along God's love to someone else today? What if you are the answer to their prayer?

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8