A Fresh Perspective

As we read the 36th Psalm, we can be encouraged by the faithfulness of God, and drawn to know Him better:
5Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.6Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast.7How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.8They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.9For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

I think we need to be challenged in our view of God - sometimes, as we become burdened by the mundane, everyday details that we all have to be concerned about, we lose sight that we serve a great and majestic God.   A fresh perspective is incredibly helpful.   Perhaps we need a shift in altitude, in other words, trusting God to give us His view of a situation, because He truly does see the big picture.   He is the One who gives wisdom and understanding, and will help us to accept that He is at work and performing His will in our lives.

In Psalm 19, we read a magnificent passage that reminds us that the heavens communicate a powerful story, the story of Almighty God and His majesty:
(1) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.2Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.3There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.

Wouldn't you like to fly in a beautiful balloon - 19 miles above the curvature of the earth?   Well, if you have $75,000, you just might be able to, according to a piece from WORLD writer Daniel James Devine on the WorldOnCampus.com website.   A company called WorldView Enterprises has drawn up plans for a gigantic helium balloon that would carry two pilots and six passengers 19 miles high. At that altitude, occupants would get an unforgettable view of Earth's curvature, though not complete weightlessness.

Jane Poynter is the CEO of World View and co-founder of its partner firm, Paragon Space Development Corp., which has built hardware for NASA missions and experiments. She was also a crew member on the Biosphere 2 project.  Poynter relates that,"Seeing the Earth hanging in the ink-black void of space will help people realize our connection to our home planet and to the universe around us, and will surely offer a transformative experience to our customers."  

World View's proposed balloon would spend 2 to 6 hours floating as high as 100,000 feet. Since human blood would boil at that altitude, due to the lack of air pressure, the balloon would carry passengers in a pressurized capsule with windows. The capsule would protect its eight occupants from radiation or micrometeoroids that zoom through space at 22,000 mph. The capsule would have landing skids and a steerable parafoil to guide it to touchdown at the end of each flight.

Daniel writes that:

Private entrepreneurs are banking on space tourism becoming big business. More than a half-dozen wealthy tourists have each paid $20 million or more to ride Russian rockets to the ISS since 2001. One company, XCOR Aerospace, is selling $95,000 advance tickets for suborbital flights 62 miles high. Another, Virgin Galactic, is planning to take tourists 60 miles up in a rocket-powered plane. Its flights will cost $250,000 and could begin next year. About 600 wealthy space enthusiasts have already paid Virgin Galactic in advance for their seats.

World View's website promises, "Your view of the world is about to change".   And, while the aim of World View is apparently wrapped up in unprecedented space travel and tourism, from a spiritual standpoint, we can be reminded that perhaps a new altitude can help our view of the world change.

I have been known to use the phrase, "the view from 30,000 feet", meaning a broad overview, a general analysis or description of a situation.   Often, we get caught in the details and miss the big picture.   We may not be able to see all that is occurring in a set of circumstances because we don't grasp the concept of what is truly going on.  And, when we're trying to figure something out and hit the wall, we need to take another look, maybe a broader analysis, or even just a different perspective or perhaps other counsel.

We also realize as believers that God does see the big picture.   We often do not view our circumstances through spiritual eyes.  If we are encountering difficulties, we continue to rely on our own limited understanding to try to dig our way out or solve a problem.   In our problems, God wants to give us perspective.  And, in the midst of our trials, we find that He is teaching and strengthening us.  When we are experiencing frustration, it just may be an invitation from the Lord to pause, maybe even to come away, to pray, maybe even to fast, and to get a fresh set of eyes - consistent with His eyes.   We question God because we are unable and maybe even unwilling to gain a sense of that fact that He is at work, even though we may not see how...and He may want to help us to see.

And, finally, just in the physical sense, what lies beyond, in space, is fascinating to us, and can tell us stories of God's handiwork.  If you stop and think about the beauty of the earth, a magnificent testimony of creation, and the placement of the earth - just the right distance to sustain life, with precisely the right conditions, you recognize that this was orchestrated by a master designer.   Consider all the wonders of planet earth, combined with a great and expansive universe, and you admit that they testify to the work of Almighty God.