Published on 09/14/2006

For all our scientific advances, we're still subject to the laws of thermodynamics and photosynthesis; two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen still make water; we can do nothing to prevent the rain and little to predict it. God's creative wisdom dwarfs ours. If you need help and guidance today, go first to your Father.

Commentary

Three, apparently. At least that's the story from space yesterday, where a $372 million truss and solar array were serviced on the International Space Station. This morning's New York Times has the story: Daniel Burbank and Steven MacLean were on a seven-hour space walk, removing launch locks and restraints which were used to hold the solar array rotating joint in place during the heavy vibration of launch. Each lock and restraint was secured by numerous bolts, all of which had to be removed so the array could rotate to catch the sun's rays and power the Station.

During the process, Mr. McLean struggled with a balky bolt. The extension on his pistol-grip power tool broke under the stress of trying to budge it. He went back for a replacement. Mr. Burbank joined him as they used a wrench with a "cheater bar" extension. They finally were able to coerce the bolt to turn, under guidance from a third astronaut inside the Space Shuttle.

If the 1.5 inch bolt had sheared, the launch restraint could not have been removed, leaving the rotating joint immobilized. Then the solar arrays could not have been deployed today. That would have been "really bad," in the words of one of the men.

Three reflections follow. One: human ingenuity is no match for the laws of physics. When we fall from a fifth-story window we don't break the laws of gravity--we illustrate them. For all our scientific advances, we're still subject to the laws of thermodynamics and photosynthesis; two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen still make water; we can do nothing to prevent the rain and little to predict it. God's creative wisdom dwarfs ours. If you need help and guidance today, go first to your Father.

Two: little things can produce big consequences. A 1.5-inch bolt was worth a $375 million apparatus. Pilate was no match for Jesus, or Caesar for Paul. The Sermon on the Mount can be recited in 15 minutes. If your life is in God's hands, it counts for eternity.

Three: life is easier together. One astronaut working on a stuck bolt was defeated; two won the day. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another," Solomon was wise to say (Proverbs 27:17). We weren't meant to do life alone. You can't play football by yourself. A coal taken from the fire quickly goes out. If you're struggling with a recalcitrant bolt in your world, look to the body of Christ. We are literally his hands today. So if you'll turn to God right now, trusting his providence and people, his help will be yours. No matter where in space you find yourself this morning.