Good

As we know, in the beginning God created the Earth and all that is in it. Everytime He made something He stated, "it is good."

I like to follow the space program. On a Space Shuttle mission in 2002, the astronauts made 5 spacewalks to repair the Hubble space telescope. One of the astronauts, Mike Massimino, had a remarkable experience during one of his spacewalks. This is what happened:

Massimino was making his second spaceflight on Atlantis and second trip to Hubble, during which time he made two spacewalks. On his first career spacewalk, he was so busy helping give Hubble new solar wings he didn't dare look at the Earth. But on his second excursion, the view hit him, and hit him hard.

"It was a day pass and I could view the Earth very clearly. It was right there," Massimino said. "And my first reaction was to look away from it. That it was so beautiful, people weren't supposed to see it."

And then he did what to most people on Earth would be unthinkable.

"I actually turned my head. I thought, I'm not supposed to be looking at this. This was too much to see," Massimino said.

The grandeur of the planet struck Massimino as something more than just beautiful. Something he can picture so clearly, but words fail to explain fully.

"It was like looking into absolute paradise," said Massimino, adding that the view was more than heavenly. "I'm looking forward to doing that again."

That was such an awesome description of the beauty and creative prowess of the Creator of the universe. Reflecting on what Massimino witnessed, I am drawn to what St. Paul wrote, "Eye has not seen or ear heard what God has prepared for those that love Him". In today's language: "The best is yet to come!"

Beloved, trust me when I say, no matter what trial you are facing today, God is aware and cares deeply for you. I am in the midst of a physical ailment that no one seems to be able to resolve. I loose a great deal of sleep because of it. In the midst of this problem, I tend to loose hope sometimes. Then, I either read or hear of God revealing himself in an extraordinary way to someone (whether it is Moses or Massimino), and God speaks to my heart and says, "dont give up, something grand is coming; just have faith and believe". For isn't there a promise in the book of Romans that says "all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose"?

Along these same lines, I have always found many of the Psalms to be remarkable. Especially the ones where the Psalmist is pleading for God to help, and even cries out to God to see if He is really hearing the cries. Then, an astounding change of pace occurs, as the Psalmist, switches to praising God for who He is and what He has done, right after these pleas are issued. There is a great lesson in this for us. When the "chips are down", praise Him! I have been trying to do that myself. It is hard, but effective. It forces you to have a bigger picture on things, like the astronaut Massimino did. Then you are able to realize the truth in praising such a wonderful Creator. For as the Psalmist said, "bless the Lord for He is GOOD, His mercy endures forever". Amen.

Blessings!
George