Is the world getting smaller

Our teenage granddaughter just returned this past week from a mission trip to India. A 65 year old friend left today to spend a year teaching English in China. An 85 year old friend shared in Sunday School class yesterday about her trip to Ireland and England. We have nieces for whom Guatemala, Japan, Tanzania, Czech Republic, Malaysia have been “home” for extended periods of time. One of my cousin’s sons flies to Europe several times a year on business. When did the world get so small, and so accessible to people of all ages?

I was an older teen before I ever got outside the states of Oregon and Washington. I remember when the 30 mile drive to Portland was a major trip. And my first airplane ride was after we were married and were on our way to Costa Rica for language study. I jokingly say I didn’t put my weight down on the seat the entire flight! And now – I have survived the flight to and from Peru/Bolivia 4 times. The flight to visit our kids and grandkids in Indiana this summer was anticipated not feared. And the 2,800+ mile drive round-trip to Colorado to visit our kids and grandkids was no big deal.

The advances in technology for travel and communication have changed remarkably in the past 65 years. To think that I can communicate instantaneously literally around the world is astounding, yet has become common-place. Media coverage of world-wide events as they happen is the norm. When did the world get so small?

Yet all this increased awareness of the world in which we live must pale in comparison to how God sees us. To Him, time and distance is irrelative. At the same moment, He sees the plight of the invisible children, hears the hopeless cry of the Devadasi and her daughters, is aware of the new Christians who are being chained and beaten to try to persuade them to denounce their faith in Christ, sees the homes and lands of the already poverty-stricken as they are washed away by floods, feels the discouragement of missionaries for whom so much seems to be going wrong. And yes, even in the face of these humanly insurmountable happenings, also hears my heart’s longing for a closer relationship with Him.

I am so thankful that the world isn’t getting smaller or bigger for God. It’s just right for His personal involvement, care, love for each and every one of His creation at each and every moment of time. Lord, just help that reality to make a difference in how I face today.