The other day my computer screensaver pic was of the Lagoon Nebula. Here’s what my AI search assistant and Wikipedia told me about this stellar structure:

“The Lagoon Nebula, also known as Messier 8 or M8, is a giant emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius, approximately 4,000 to 6,000 light-years from Earth. It is a stellar nursery where new stars are formed and is one of the few star-forming nebulae visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes.

Located approximately 4,000–6,000 light-years from Earth, the nebula spans 110 by 50 light-years (appearing as 90′ by 40′ in Earth’s sky). While appearing pink in long-exposure photographs, it typically appears gray when viewed through binoculars or telescopes due to the human eye’s limited color sensitivity in low-light conditions. The nebula contains the young open cluster NGC 6530 within its structure.[8]”

If one light year is approximately 6 trillion miles (the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, times the number of seconds in a year) 4000 light years is 23,514,501,492,734,431 Miles. What is that number called? Quadrillion? I’m not sure.According to the website ExplainingSpace.com (https://www.explainingspace.com/how-long-would-it-take-to-travel-a-light-year/)

“NASA’s Juno spacecraft showcases incredible speed, hitting 165,000 mph (365,000 kmph). Imagine, even at this fast pace, it would still take 2,958 years to cover a distance of one light year, a testament to the vastness of space—approximately 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers).

Traveling at the speed of light covers vast distances in space quickly, but current technology makes it         impossible for humans or even our most advanced spacecraft to reach this speed.

Can people match the speed of a light year?

Einstein said it’s impossible to match the speed of light because it travels at 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometers per second). Light is the fastest thing in the universe. We can’t create anything that moves even a fraction as fast.,”

Multiplying 2958 years by 4000 light years, you get 11,832,000 years to get to the Lagoon Nebula (or more if you use the 6000 light years multiplier) in the fastest spaceship we currently have. By implication, the picture of this nebula above is about 4 to 6,000 years old. We don’t know what it actually looks like today. And the size of the nebula is 110 X 50 light years, or 660,000,000,000,000 (trillion) miles wide by 300,000,000,000,000 miles high (or deep?).

So how big is God? I don’t mean to imply that God has a physical size. The scriptures tell us that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24. What boggles my mind is what kind of power and “otherness” it takes to create a universe of such unfathomable size that most of us don’t even know the proper term for the number of miles (or kilometers, if you’re not American) it spans. And what kind of being is it that makes it so vast that man cannot observe what it actually looks like in real time? And what kind of beings are we that are so limited in optical and technological prowess that we can’t even live long enough to travel to the nearest star (other than our own sun) – Proxima Centauri which is 4.25 light years away – much less the Lagoon Nebula? We think we’re so amazing if we can run 100 yards in 9.1 seconds. That world record was set by Bob Hayes in 1963. Try running to Proxima Centauri, Bob!

“Have you not known? Have your not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” Isaiah 40: 28.

“Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17

“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens” Proverbs 3:19

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans 11:33

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in hyour inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19.