Windows to Wonders, Lights to the Stars
Christ said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the children to those who embrace life with childlike faith, wonder, awe, and love. “And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:3, NIV). I see this truth so clearly in my children. I remember one evening with my oldest son when he was two years old, his tiny hands pressed against the truck window as he gazed at the Christmas lights glowing in the night. His eyes shone like the stars, his smile was more honest than I’d ever seen pure, unfiltered joy. There was no hesitation, no fear of anything, only the beauty of this moment, fully embraced and embedded in innocence.
It reminded me that the Kingdom of Heaven is found in these small, sacred moments. God invites us to return to that kind of wonder, to see His presence in the ordinary, to trust Him without reservation. To believe He is never changing amongst all the changes around us. But life, with all its trials, has a way of dimming that light in us. Pain, loss, and the weight of responsibility can make us forget the simple joys, the things that truly matter. The very things that were here from the beginnings, yesterday, today, and to the end of times. The enemy comes in the night to steal, kill, and destroy to rob us of our joy, to cloud our vision with sorrow and distractions. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10, NIV). But joy is a choice, and I choose it.
Choosing joy in the face of tragedy is an act of defiance against the enemy’s schemes. It’s reclaiming the truth that God is always present, that His love cannot be stolen, and that in the vastness of all He has made, we matter to Him. “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Psalm 145:18, NIV). When we choose joy, we do more than lift our own spirits we actively resist the enemy’s attempts to break us. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, NIV). Joy is not just a feeling, it is a weapon. It is standing firm in faith, declaring that God’s goodness is greater than any darkness that tries to overtake us.
To stand outside and lift your face to the sun, to feel its warmth while your eyes are closed, to see the amber and golden hues that still permeate through.. that must be a glimpse of what it’s like to be in His presence. “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame” (Psalm 34:5, NIV). To lie in the grass and notice the tiny world moving beneath you, the life that builds, shifts, and changes while we rush past unaware. how much have we missed in our hurry to grow up or the distractions of temporary among us?
But if you’ve ever stood on a mountaintop and looked out over the world, or stared up at the stars in the stillness of the countryside, you might understand. In those moments, I have felt the most joy, and the least alone. The vastness of creation does not make me feel small…in fact it makes me feel seen. Because in all that immensity the galaxies stretched out beyond what I can fathom, the mountains and valleys sculpted and carved by His hands, the oceans that whisper His name..He made me. He made you. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4, NIV). He sees me. And in His presence, I am loved beyond measure. And so are you.