On December 20, 2010 there will be three converging natural events in the sky. Is this a sign? It can be…

The annual Ursid meteor shower (up to 100 per hour) which appears annually from December 17-25, will peak tonight. From our vantage point on earth the meteors fall from within the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the “Little Dipper”.  This happens on winters solstice, the longest night of the year. And this year, these two events will be underscored and highlighted by a rare total lunar eclipse. Tonight is the first time since 1638 that a lunar eclipse will fall on winter solstice.

Christians acknowledge that natural events are… natural. God designed the course of nature and called it all “good.” When things happen in the sky, they are part of the random cycles of an orderly universe.

On the other hand, God often uses coinciding natural events to highlight his purposes and plans. In this way God leverages natural events and makes them “signs.” This happens when God speaks ahead of time, giving them meaning and aligning them with his specific intervention inside history. The “star” or planetary alignment that appeared to guide the Magi to Jesus was at once a natural event and a supernatural sign fulfilling prophecies. God uses creation to speak and clarify his messages to us.  

On one hand tonight’s sky show is nature doing its nature thing… It’s also an opportunity for us to listen to God’s specific voice and direction. God has warned us in the Bible that as history moves toward a climax signs in the heavens will re-enforce God’s mission in history. If we look and listen and EXPECT God to speak through these sky events, we will see his hand at work.

God can and does speak in and through ordinary natural processes. And what might God say to us through this this natural convergence? Check in tonight and ask him… Watch, listen, wait, consider… And enjoy the show.