Monday Morning Devotion-January30, 2023

A Galaxy Far Away

Remember this!  Fix it in your mind!...I am God.  There is no other!  I am God.  There is none like me.     Isaiah 46:9

*Revisiting a devotion from not so far away.          

             "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…"

            Sound familiar?  Movie buffs, especially those of the epic Star Wars film series created by George Lucas, will recognize that as the opening crawl, a signature device featured in every one of these films setting the stage for the story that follows. 

            What prompted me to settle in on this topic for our devotion this week?   Well, for one thing it was when TLS and I saw the (7th film) in this movie series called "Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens."

            The second reason is that I recently read this statement.  "God can make a billion galaxies so certainly He can make good out of bad" (in your life.)

            Let's take a closer look at that statement.  What are galaxies anyway?

            "Galaxies are huge collections of stars, dust and gas.  They usually contain several million to over a trillion stars and can range in size from a few thousand to several hundred thousand light years across." (from internet site:  "Cool Cosmos")

            Wow!  How phenomenal is that?  To think God could create something that huge and that complex.  But wait a minute.  Let's read further.  It gets more phenomenal.

            "There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the Universe."   Man, oh Man, is that something?  Apparently, God made a template…must have been a big one…for a galaxy.  Then duplicated it by making many other galaxies from it.  Not so!  We read:  "Galaxies come in many different sizes, shapes and brightness’s and like stars, are found alone, in pairs or in larger groups called clusters."

            And as always God leaves no stone unturned.  There's more. Apparently, He has made not one but three different types of galaxies.  They are; spirals, ellipticals and irregulars."

            But enough about the technicalities of the galaxies.  Here's why that is an important consideration for us.

            Sometimes our path in life gets a little rocky.  Troubles beset us and at times problems seem to pile up.  We can get so snowed under with these tribulations that we lose site of what to do about them.  They can get bigger than we feel capable of handling.

            OK, when that happens it should trigger the one thing, the most important one, to keep in mind.  If our God can create galaxy after galaxy, then certainly he can handle whatever we throw at Him.  Not only that He wants us to seek His help. 

            Why would a God, who is capable of creating an amazingly complex universe as well as keeping it running, want any of our piddly little problems to deal with also?   Well, they may be big problems to us but in comparison to everything else in the universe they are probably small.

            It's simple.  Because He loves us.  Really?  You mean because He loves us He will stop everything else and deal with our problems?  No!  Not really.  That's because God is the ultimate multi-tasker.  While we might think that we are really good at multi-tasking if we can deal with two or three things at the same time, that's nothing considering what God deals with.

            Now I don't want to take that train of thought much farther because I certainly can't speak for God, and I have no comprehension of how God does what he does.  I just know that time after time God has heard and answered my prayers…especially some of the more troubling ones.

            And to go along with that initial statement about the God who makes a billion galaxies and his ability to turn bad to good in your life,  here are three other things to consider that say a lot about why God is the only answer to life-problems.

            1)  God has no needs so you cannot tire Him.

            2)  God is without age so you cannot lose Him.

            3) God has no sin so you cannot corrupt Him.

            So, what has God got to lose in dealing with your life-problems?  Better still is the question : what have you got to lose?  Even if God's answer was not now or not yet concerning a problem you have are you any worse off than before? Your problem is still there.  It is the same problem.

            But things change when you take this concern to God.  He honors the fact that your faith is strong enough to trust and rely on him.  Bad things do happen to good people (see the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 when his jealous brothers sold him into slavery.)

            Here's the cliff notes on that one:  After Joseph found favor with God and became governor of Egypt, he was then confronted by his brothers who were asking for food during the famine and they didn't recognize him   He basically forgave them saying something like this:  "It wasn't you who sent me here.  It was God.  What you intended for evil God intended for good." 

            That timeless story is one we can always remember when things go bad.  What Satan intends for bad, God can use for good.  Sometimes we learn hard lessons, but we do learn.  That's the point.  We learn that God is a mysterious but mighty God.

            He can create a universe of galaxies.  He created you and billions of other people as well.  Each one is special to Him.  Each one has the power to grieve Him.  But, He never gives up on anyone.  Through the exercise of your faith there is always hope.  That is one of His great gifts to us.  Hope!  It begins and ends with a loving God.

            Your troubles are not like a galaxy that is far, far away.  They are real and they are personal, they are current and present, and they can be surmounted by One much great than us…the one God.  There is no other like Him.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for always being there for us in any and every situation in life. Amen!