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How Many Stars Are There?

Psalm 147:4-5
“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

Most of us have heard that our sun is an average-sized star. Yet, this star churns out more energy every second than we could ever use. Less than one-tenth of one percent of its energy falls on the Earth in any one second. If we could harness only one second’s worth of that energy, we would have more energy than man has used in his entire existence or expects to use for thousands of years into the future!

False-color image of the Sun observed in the extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrumSome stars are so large that if they sat where our sun is, about 93 million miles away, the Earth would be inside them! Astronomers reckon that there are over one billion stars in our galaxy and over a million galaxies like it in the universe! This means that as incredible as God’s power must be to have created our sun, He actually made over a million times a billion suns! And just think, He did it all in one day and didn’t even rest the next day. Scripture even tells us that He calls each star by name.

All stars are not the same. Some generate huge amounts of energy but are completely invisible to our eyes. Others spin at speeds up to dozens of times per second. Some stars actually flash on and off like giant space beacons. Truly, God’s power, wisdom and creativity are infinite.

Prayer:
Dear Father, I am overcome by the incredible power of Your Word which created everything in space. Help me to remember that it is that same powerful Word which You had preserved in Scripture and use its power in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: False-color image of the Sun observed in the extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum. Courtesy of NASA.