Worlds Apart

Daily Post:  Distant

Any Star Wars fan worth their salt knows the phrase, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

George Lucas, and John Williams are creative geniuses, each in their own field of work.  Lucas captured our minds with outrageous new creatures and the use of computer generated imagery (CGI), while Williams captured our emotions and visceral imaginations with the sound track.  From the evil Imperial March track associated with the dark side of the Empire, and Darth Vader’s breathing apparatus, to the CGI hyper-speed jumps of the Millennium Falcon, this original 1977 movie took us to places we could not conjure in our own imaginations.

I have always loved science fiction, does anyone out there remember “Danger! Will Robinson!”?  Today’s offerings in the genre of science fiction, now 40 years removed from the Jedi Master and the Force, continue to capture our thoughts about the reality of space travel, and what lies beyond our world.  As of March 27 of this years, NASA continues on it’s plan to send humans to the Red Planet sometime in the 2030’s.  That’s 13 years from now folks.  Is this reality?  Could this actually happen?

My thoughts are mixed from a spiritual standpoint.  Nothing about my 1960’s faith allowed for the concept of traveling through space.  That said, I’m now 63 years old, and I’ve witnessed the evolution of technologies that not only could I not have envisioned as a child, I was an actual part of the early pioneer work of establishing the capability of  data communication over cellular devices.  (Translation:  Texting, emailing, tweeting, etc on the cell phone)  What a ride!

Will the Creator allow humanity to make this great voyage into the unknown of space?  There is nothing Biblically that either allows or forbids this possibility.  In fact, it is pure speculation on the part of any biblical scholar who takes a dogmatic stand one way or the other.  In the area of predicting the future, God gives us the plan for the end of human history.  But what’s missing in the information is when this might occur, and God hasn’t enlightened us or hinted to us anything in terms of concrete, hard-and-fast time tables.  He doesn’t tell us year, month, day, hour, or minute… so ANYONE who tells you they know, is a false prophet. Trust me, they don’t know.

That said, it is just as easy for me to believe that space travel is in the very near future for many people.  If you are 20 years old and dreaming of flying in a real live spaceship, your odds are pretty good, if God allows us to exist another 100 years.  The ancients, the Old Testament authors, could only see the stars and marvel at the existence.  The New Testament authors, wrote of the Magi being led by a star to the place where the Son of God was born, in Bethlehem.  Outside of these references, what would ever cause us to think that these men understood our world today, from 2,000 years in the past?  Enter John the apostle.

Not only did John see things he simply couldn’t explain or describe adequately, some of the things he saw, Jesus specifically said not to write down in his book called The Revelation.  We can’t possibly know all that will happen in our world, or this galaxy before God says “enough is enough.”  Perhaps that won’t even happen until we’ve explored other worlds within our galaxy, or beyond.  The longer it takes for God to fulfill the words of His prophets, the more people on this planet will continue to say, “Why hasn’t God come back for us yet?  What is He waiting on?  If there really is a God!”

So I leave you with these distant thought from the past.  The passage of time does not negate their truthfulness, so be careful about measuring prophecy against the element of time.  If God says it will happen, then it will happen.

2 Peter 3:9
The LORD is not slow about His promise, as some esteem slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Isaiah 55:11
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

John 14:2
In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

So… go be light and salt today, bringing God great glory, experiencing His grace in everything you do!  Live in the reality of these yet distant promises.

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