The Long Exposure

In 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision that many of his colleagues thought was foolish. He pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at a tiny patch of sky near the Big Dipper — a patch that appeared completely empty — and he kept it there for ten consecutive days. Ten days of precious telescope time aimed at what looked like nothing.

Other scientists objected. There were galaxies to study, nebulae to photograph, discoveries waiting in every direction. Why waste time staring at darkness?

But Williams waited. And when the exposure was finally complete, the image that emerged stunned the world. That tiny sliver of apparent emptiness — no bigger than a grain of sand held at arm's length — contained over three thousand galaxies. Each one home to hundreds of billions of stars. The Hubble Deep Field became one of the most important photographs in the history of science, revealing that the universe was far vaster and more magnificent than anyone had imagined.

Sometimes God asks us to keep our eyes fixed on what appears to be nothing. We pray and see silence. We trust and see darkness. We wait and wonder if anyone is listening. But the writer of Hebrews reminds us that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

The light is gathering, even when you cannot see it yet. Keep the lens open. The Almighty is composing something beyond what your eyes can presently hold.