My husband sometimes has to remind me that we live in a fallen world. In fact, recently he told me, "I think you need to accept the fact that Eve at the apple." (His seminary training is proving useful :-)).
Picturing Eve taking that fateful bite is a wonderful reminder that this Earth is not our home. That on that "very sad day"** this world was forever broken, tainted, and diseased, and it won't be repaired, cleansed, and healed fully until Jesus comes back in glory (come quickly, Lord!).
So in the meantime, keeping in mind that one day all will be made right, it is also helpful for me to keep my "problems" in perspective.
A couple of months ago one of my daughters had an appendectomy which required a two-night stay at the children's hospital. (If you want perspective, visit a hospital full of very sick children.) I almost felt embarrassed that we were taking up a bed for a mere appendectomy.
After I slipped out of the room one morning to grab a cup of coffee, I ran into a college friend at the "cafe." It was good to see her, and the even greater news was that her daughter was there for a "mere" tonsillectomy. She leaned in and said, "Yeah. This is the kind of place that reminds you that if everyone put their problems out on the table, you'd take yours back in a heartbeat."
Very true for most of us.
I do have a few friends going through some truly horrendous valleys right now, so I don't want to make light of those kinds of problems. And many others around the world right now are suffering tremendously, both for the sake of Christ and just because of this fallen world. Their pain and suffereing are real and horrific.
But for the most part, I could do with remembering how small my problems are and how big God is. (Is there anything too difficult for the Lord? Gen 18:14)
So here's a little science lesson that fascinated me. (An aside: Do you to remember "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles"? My husband learned "Nine Pizzas," but he is from a wealthy suburb of the big city. Of course moms were serving up nine pizzas up there. I am from a small town. We only had pickles.)
As you can see, this is a picture of the Earth along with some of its planetary pals.
Earth looks pretty good from this perspective. It's the largest planet, but not so much larger as to be gauche. It's definitely the best, and it's tastefully done -- none of that excessive fire/gas action that Venus is dealing with.
But along come Jupiter and Saturn.
....and Uranus and Neptune for that matter. (Who knew that Neptune was such a big, blue bruiser?)
. Earth is not the big kid on the block anymore. Not even remotely. I guess I've known for about 25 years that Jupiter and Saturn were the big guys.....I'm just never fullycomprehended the magnitude, though. Wow.
But watch out, Jupiter.
Incredible. Earth is a speck! If Earth were my earring back, and I dropped it on my floor, I would never find it.
But, wait. There's more.
Now the teeny tiny gobstopper on the far left is our sun. These others are larger stars. Earth doesn't even make it on this picture -- or maybe it does, it's too small to be seen with the naked eye anyway.
So, if God is bigger, wiser, better, kinder, more powerful and more just than I can ever comprehend, what does this mean about most of my problems?
*Elizabeth Musser
**The Big Picture Bible
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