Big, Big Questions
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:3-4
The shower was running, the music blaring, when I walked down the hall to the bedroom: “How deep is the ocean? (How high is the sky?)”* Exactly, I said to myself in light of the lunar eclipse of the evening before. How could a Blood Moon turn red in the shadow of the earth? Space.com tells us this much: “Sunlight scatters to produce the red colors of sunset and sunrise when it enters Earth's atmosphere at a particular angle.” Does it not make you pause for a moment to wonder at the majesty of creation?
O LORD, our Lord, …You have set your glory above the heavens (Psalm 8:1), and below the oceans and in the roses “sprinkled with dew”*. Just “how far is the journey from here to a star?”*
Who are you, God? You have called yourself “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), as has Jesus: “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:26). Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2). Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way? (Psalm 8:4, MSG).
Yet that is exactly what You do. You invite us in for a deeper view. You draw us to the reality of You with the big, big questions, as You did Job (Job 38-41).
Then, having caught a glimpse of God—even if you don’t have a God faith—inevitably you and I pursue our spot in the grand scheme of things. According to Ravi Zacharias, RZIM apologist: “When you think of it, really there are four fundamental questions of life. You've asked them, I've asked them, every thinking person asks them. They boil down to this: origin, meaning, morality and destiny. 'How did I come into being? What brings life meaning? How do I know right from wrong? Where am I headed after I die?'”
May our hearts respond as Job: My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you (Job 42:5).
Nancy P
*How Deep is the Ocean? (How high is the sky?) 1932, by Irving Berlin
