The World off a String

Reading the book of Job is like searching for buried treasures in a field full of treasures. Job has so much in it that speaks to me. This morning I was reading Job talk about the glory of God in the midst of his affliction. He says, "He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing." (Job 26:7)

Today, the fact that the Earth is hung on nothing probably wouldn't surprise anybody. We know from Science that the Earth is suspended in space by its orbit and gravitational relation to the sun and the other planets around it. At least that's what we think. To an alien, that explanation may sound as ridiculous as somebody holding the whole world up by a giant fishing line. Then again, a lot of things would probably sound strange to an alien.

My point is this: Job was caught up in the midst of God's wonder. Not knowing whether the earth was round or flat, big or small, close or far from the sun and the moon and the stars, Job looked around and saw that what was going on was supernatural. Even in the midst of His pain and agony and loss he couldn't help but look around and wonder at what God does.

I look at the stars and think those are giant masses of gas expanding and contracting millions and billions and kajillions of miles away. I look at the seasons and think of the earths orbit around the season and the tilt of it's axis. I look at a tree growing and think of the cells of the seed multiplying into a tree and photosynthesis keeping it healthy. And as I think about myself thinking these things, I'm suddenly sick to my stomach.

I forget who tells the Earth to spin, who put gravity in it's place and proportioned it perfectly to make the universe function the way it does. I forgot who expands and contracts the stars and holds the universe in space. I forgot who tells the birds to fly south or north or who told the tiny seed that it was going to grow up to be an oak tree. I forgot that when I actually allow my wonder of the world around me to happen, Science explains very little of the ultimate how's of the world and tells nothing of the why's.

God hangs the earth on nothing...and that doesn't shake me to the core. I hate that I settle for science over wonder. It's like settling for water and vitamin supplements over the juiciest steak, the creamiest mashed potatoes, the most flavorful beer, and the richest chocolate I could ever taste. Science is just part of the great lie Satan has used to keep us from looking up, looking around, looking at eachother, and looking at ourselves and saying in sheer amazement, "Oh God! What have you done?!"

The greatness of God's majesty is just one of the things we keep forgetting. And for the Church here in America to be restored, it's something that we need to remember.