Does it ever keep you awake at night, the fact that you were placed on this earth for a specific reason? Have you ever really let it sink in that we live in the exact time period we do, in this beautiful country, placed with the family we were, with a specific purpose and set of talents?
While thoughts like these turn and spiral around my head, keeping me awake, this blue planet we call home also turns. It turns slowly and methodically, an unworried, unhurried perfect puzzle piece in the galaxy—every star, planet and moon placed perfectly.
When I say perfectly placed, I literally mean perfectly placed. During creation God didn’t just haphazardly throw Earth into this solar system and call it a day. He purposely and intentionally designed our universe, finely tuning everything so that life could exist and thrive in this world. [pullquote]
The Anthropic Principle is based on the observation that the universe appears to be geared towards providing and supporting an environment suitable for human life. Christians already know this to be true; Genesis 1:1 foundationally declares that, at the beginning of time, God formed the heavens and the earth. He wasn’t afraid to get His hands dirty, physically forming Earth’s sphere, lovingly and purposely placing our planet into space and setting it spinning just right. And He did so with human life in mind; with you and I in mind.
Astronomy provides for us some of the biggest, greatest and most fascinating examples in all creation of our Creator God’s indescribable power and deliberate character. David wrote in Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Space, visually and physically, is a testament to God’s astronomical power and glory. He designed everything about our world so carefully with the sole purpose that life would survive and thrive. God made Earth’s orbit a perfect circle around the sun, for should it be elliptical even by the smallest degree, our oceans and water supplies would freeze over or evaporate. Mercury spins 59 times more slowly than Earth so that its sunny side reaches up to 465 degrees Celsius and the side that faces away from the sun reaches minus 180 degrees! In contrast, Earth rotates every 24 hours, keeping temperatures manageable and giving us reasonably measured days and nights.
With God’s power He could have easily sneezed galaxies into existence, rinsed His hands of all accountability and become a spectator. Instead, God chose intimacy. Everything He did and does has purpose, including our lives. He somehow keeps track of all the stars in the sky and at the same time knows when I’m lying awake in my bed worrying about finding my place in this world. This is when the God of the universe sings a lullaby over me (Zephaniah 3:17) and before I fall asleep I catch a glimpse of the stars through a gap in my curtain, twinkling, “I love you”.
“Astronomical” is the eighth episode in Waymaker.TV’s What Do You Think? series, which will air over the coming months.
Natalia Melville is a freelance artist and writer with a bachelor’s degree in Film and TV Production.
