Ten Days of Staring at Nothing

In December 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision that baffled his colleagues. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, he pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at a tiny patch of sky near the Big Dipper — a spot that appeared completely empty, no bigger than a grain of sand held at arm's length. Then he left it there for ten straight days.

Other scientists were frustrated. Telescope time was precious, and Williams seemed to be wasting it by staring at nothing. Some called it foolish. Why invest ten days photographing darkness?

When the exposure finally developed, it silenced every critic. That "empty" patch of sky contained over three thousand galaxies — entire galaxies — each one home to billions of stars. The Hubble Deep Field image became one of the most important photographs in the history of science, revealing that the universe was unimaginably larger and more magnificent than anyone had dared to believe.

Sometimes God asks us to keep looking at what appears to be nothing. We pray and see darkness. We wait and feel emptiness. The weeks stretch on, and people around us wonder why we bother.

But the God who scattered three thousand galaxies in a speck of darkness is always at work in the places that look most empty. Your patience is not wasted time. It is an act of trust in El Shaddai, the Almighty, who fills what seems void with more glory than we could have imagined.

Keep the telescope open.