The timelessness of our God
Psalm 90
Betelgeuse is one of the ten brightest stars in the night sky. A variable star, it is the second brightest in the constellation of Orion and is 642 light years away. This means that the light that we see of Betelgeuse had already come 642 years ago. How profound, considering the speed of light. Light travels (in a vacuum) 299,792 kilometres a second. And that will be too many digits if we were to calculate the number of seconds in 642 years! It will suffice to simply dwell on the profundity of it all. In terms of volume, Betelgeuse is twelve times the size of our sun; and roughly 9 to 10 million years in age.
In October 2019, Betelgeuse began to dim, sending many experts amok. It is known that when stars become too old (that’s star-old, not human-old), they tend to lose their brightness and then go supernova (in laymen’s term, explode). This led some scientists to believe that it is going to explode very soon.
But then, by the early months of 2020, Betelgeuse became as bright as before again. It is now thought that there may have been some obstructions (cosmic particles) that made Betelgeuse look dim.
The brightness (or, for that matter, the dimming) of Betelgeuse had sent many scientists in a tizzy. Come to think of it, if Betelgeuse explodes now, shouldn’t we only see it after 642 years? Or, if we see it now, does that mean it had already exploded 642 years ago and that the lights from the explosion reaches us now? Or, has it already exploded, and we haven’t seen the lights from it because it has not reached us yet? Has it? Has it not?
And this is just a single star…
Just look at the sky and all the stars in it. They are uncountable. And those are the only ones we can see. There are billions and billions of stars invisible to the naked eye. What about them?
Now, think of us. How insignificant we are, considering the vastness of the galaxies, the universe, the space…
And yet, we have been so arrogant, proud and insolent.
And some even cursed God, while others doubt His existence.
See, God created them all (Gen. 1:1; Is. 40:26). He has been God even before they were.
Moses wrote, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps. 90:2).
As regards to time, God is beyond it too.
It is impossible to comprehend or measure such glory and magnificence. All our rebellions and our wickedness melts in the face of it all. We are just flesh and grass who wither and fall (1 Pet. 24) at the blink of an eye.
But, He loves us! He cares for us! He has always.
He loves us sinners. He loves us insignificant creatures. He loves me, this insignificant, unworthy and frail being; strengthening me when I need to be strengthened and listening to my most incoherent of prayers and answering them.
And above all this, he gave us His only begotten Son who died for our sins! Oh what love. Nothing can fully express such love, a love that gives us eternal life!
Oh, wonderful love. Oh, I cannot express. Even the song “The love of God is greater far” (https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/28) does not express it enough.
Moses also said, “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong” (Ps. 90:10). How insignificant we are!
Just consider this: the time taken for the light of Betelgeuse to reach us is enough for several kingdoms, civilizations and empires to rise and fall.
Because of this, during our very short lifespan, let us be in full obedience to the will and command of the Lord. Let us look for the ways of the Lord and follow them carefully. Moses’ words were quite appropriate, “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart” (Ps. 90:12). Yes, let us learn to count our days in complete obedience to God for, the whole duty of everyone is to “fear God, and keep His commandments” (Eccl. 12:13) as every deed will be brought to “judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:14).
