Sometime well after midnight, I put on my jacket, got a folding chair, and headed out into the chilly night air. I walked to the end of my driveway, carefully positioned the chair, took a seat, and stared into the star-filled sky. Except for a distant owl, everything was silent, the perfect setting to behold the cosmic spectacle known as the Orionid Meteor Shower.

My experience with such things has not been good. Once in high school my best friend, James Henderson, and I sat out in the middle of nowhere for hours to see the Leonid Meteor shower, projected to have more than 50 shooting stars per hour. Pretty cool, huh? Well, maybe for some National Geographic photographer perched on a remote island. We got nothing, zip, nada.

Lo these many years later, I don't know why I thought this night would be any different. Yet there I was...by myself. And I mean really by myself. Not a light flickered in my neighbors' houses. Got a little spooky, actually, but that was ok. Maybe I'm a little different. Maybe I looked a little odd out there shivering in the cold, slumped in my chair, underneath all those stars.

Those are good times to spend with God. You can ask Him anything, and if you listen carefully, you may even learn something. That night I was caught up in the "bigness" of everything, feeling very insignificant in the great scheme of things. My questions were of the order: Why did you make all these stars, galaxies, and planets? Is there other life out there? If so, how do we rate? No, wait, don't answer that. Are we any different? Are we supposed to be?

Paul once wrote about this, sort of. ...learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians 4:6b-7)

Paul was speaking of wisdom, and not just any wisdom, but that which comes from God. Those who do not follow God do not have His wisdom. But many who have received His wisdom act as though they figured it all out on their own. In their pride, they don't follow God, but instead glory in themselves. Yet this is about more than just pride.

"Do not go beyond what is written" means not to add or substitute our own desires and judgments as we go about studying what God has expressed in His Word. But in being careful not to corrupt God's Word, we often fail to understand it. Just look at Paul's first question---Who makes you different from anyone else? Does he mean everyone's the same, or was he asking, Who makes you different?

Those who follow God have been made into new creations with eternal life and special gifts. They've been set apart from this world to fulfill unique ministries God has specially provided to each as all come together in unity to express God's love for one another and those who do not yet know Him.

Are you different from anyone else? Yes. Who makes you different? The Creator of the Universe.

While looking at the stars, I thought about what Paul had written. Was God really telling us that we are different from all others? Through Him, in Him, and following Him...are we truly significant in the great expanse of the universe? I remembered something else he wrote: Let mankind regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (see v. 4:1) (Feeling different yet?)

Then a shooting star crossed from the eastern sky to the western horizon, the brightest and longest I've ever seen. As I sat, silent and amazed, a car rolled down the street, its headlights lighting me up as though I were in a spotlight. I stood, gathered my chair, and made my way back into the warm house. (After all, I want to be known as different...not some weird guy staring at stars from his driveway in the middle of the night.)