July 5, 2017

I watched a beautiful bird as it ate from the feeder. After an enthusiastic effort pecking at the food, it flew away. I thought, “Creator God is aware of that bird. Jesus said that God knows when even a sparrow falls to the ground.”

Minutes later I read in Time Magazine about a telescope being constructed that when launched will make the Hubble telescope seem very limited. This new telescope, known as WEBB, is costing billions of dollars and has been in development for many years. It will be preceded by another telescope, TESS, to be launched early next year to do some exploration ahead of WEBB.

The goal of scientists is to “peer 13.6 billion years back in time, just 200 million years after the Big Bang.” The article adds, “WEBB will get very close to seeing back to the very beginning, picking up signals that have been traveling to us since just 200 million years after the Big Bang, and converting that information to pictures.”

I admit to being fascinated with this story – and amused at human attempts to understand something that only Creator God knows. I hope to be getting a first-hand tour of the universe long before humans even come close to learning what WEBB and TESS are designed to show.

But what has me pondering today is the connection between the bird that I watched and the article that I read. The reality is that Creator God is more interested in every human and our eternal destiny than He is in any bird or telescope. His tender care of birds, and His willingness to let humans design and create equipment that can try to accomplish something beyond my biggest imagination, gets overshadowed by the reality that He loves me as an individual and has made a way for me to know Him personally and be with Him forever.

I am more than grateful for the gift of faith to believe Jesus and enjoy Him forever. I appreciate His awareness of every part of His creation. And I am amazed at what He allows humans to pursue. But I have no doubt that seeing Jesus face to face will bring more joy than anything WEBB or TESS will discover.

Pastor Bill Ehmann