The Darkest Patch of Sky

In 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision that many of his colleagues called foolish. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, he pointed the Hubble telescope at what appeared to be the emptiest, darkest patch of sky anyone could find — a tiny speck in the constellation Ursa Major, no bigger than a grain of sand held at arm's length. Then he left the shutter open for ten straight days.

Critics said he was wasting invaluable telescope time on nothing. There was no evidence anything was there. Just darkness.

When the image finally resolved, it took the scientific world's breath away. That tiny, "empty" patch of sky contained over three thousand galaxies — each one home to hundreds of billions of stars. It became known as the Hubble Deep Field, one of the most important photographs in the history of astronomy.

Sometimes the life of faith feels exactly like that. The Almighty asks us to fix our gaze on what looks like nothing — a prayer that seems to hit the ceiling, a season of waiting that stretches beyond what we thought we could bear, a promise that feels as dark and empty as a patch of night sky.

But the God who scattered three thousand galaxies in a single grain of sand's worth of darkness is the same God who says, "Trust Me with what you cannot yet see."

Robert Williams trusted the telescope. The telescope revealed what was always there.

How much more can we trust the One who placed every galaxy in its course and calls each star by name?