The Boundaries Of Their Habitation

As my family toured the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, these words kept coming to me:

And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation Acts 17:26.

Each area we toured told amazing stories of brave people who worked diligently to reach a goal. The story telling itself was compelling. The visuals, sounds, lights all played a part in describing the advances man has made during my lifetime. It was all very impressive and left me feeling proud to be part of this country that came together to reach a goal that just a few years before seemed unthinkable. And then continued on to reach further and further and accomplish more and more.

As I was observing it all, one thing became very apparent: God has set the boundaries of our habitation. He has determined what we need to survive. He put us on dry land in an atmosphere full of the air we need. We are surrounded with a ready food supply growing on trees, in bushes, underground and even in living animals. All that is left for us to do is to harvest and prepare, to our liking, the foods we need to survive.

But God also placed something in us that causes us to be dissatisfied with the simple life: planting, growing, harvesting, eating. He has placed eternity in our hearts. We know deep down that there is something more. Some of us look to Him to satisfy that longing to know what the “something more” is. Others look around and attempt to fulfill that yearning by looking outward, downward and upward.

Man seeks ways to push the boundaries. He looks at the water and wants to see what is on the other side. He builds a boat and packs it full of food and takes off. He finds beautiful new lands that have been placed there by God from the beginning just waiting for man to figure out a way to cross the waters and find them. Man’s curiosity is satisfied…for the moment.

Man seeks ways to push the boundaries again and looks under the water. He creates a way to carry his life giving air with him and goes underneath to discover the wonders that God placed there. All kinds of fascinating living organisms that have been there since the beginning of time just waiting for man to figure out a way to find them. Man’s curiosity is satisfied…for the moment.

Again man seeks ways to push the boundaries. He looks up and sees the birds flying and longs to be where they are and do what they do. He builds himself a plane that will take him soaring above the trees and over the mountains. He sees his home from a different perspective. He sees what the birds see. He discovers that he can move from one place to another with unheard of speed and his curiosity is satisfied…for the moment.

As is frequently the case with man, he wants more. He is no longer satisfied to fly with the birds. He wants to go further. He wants to cross the boundary of the atmosphere. He wants to see for himself what the moon is like. He wants to find out what is out there. To do this, he must take not only dry land (a vehicle) but also all his food and his air. Once he crosses this ultimate boundary, there is nothing to sustain him. He must take all his necessities with him. Spacesuits and spaceships that provide protection and air, food and water are all necessary to push this boundary of his habitation.

Man can go amazing places and do amazing things but he must take all his necessities with him. He will never truly be an inhabitant of the moon or Mars or underwater or even in a boat. God has set the boundaries of his habitation. He determines where man will live. Man may push those boundaries but his success is only possible because God allows him to succeed.

But God wasn’t in the story telling I heard at KSC. Unless it was a quote on the wall from one of the scientists or astronauts, I never saw any credit given to God for anything that man had done. The whole story we were told was of man and his great accomplishments and how they now had a place in history. They set a goal. They reached the goal. They patted themselves on the back. They want more. In the end though, whether man accepts it or not, God is in control of where and how he lives. God allows man to succeed or, as in the case of the Tower of Babel, puts a stumbling block in his way. Man can praise himself for his accomplishments and always be looking for something to satisfy his longing for bigger and better and larger and further but those of us who believe in God know how the story will end

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:24-31