A few weeks ago my family and I went to a planetarium to see a presentation about Jupiter. We were able to look through their telescopes and gaze at our moon and Venus. It was an incredible experience. Here are some interesting facts about Jupiter…

• If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 264 pounds on Jupiter.
• Jupiter has a mass 318 times greater than the Earth’s and a diameter that is 11 times larger.
• The mass of Jupiter is 70% of the total mass of all the other planets in our Solar System.
• Jupiter’s volume is large enough to contain 1,300 planets the size of Earth.
• Jupiter rotates faster than any planet in the Solar System.
• It rotates so quickly that the days are only 10 hours long…
• But it takes 12 Earth years for Jupiter to complete an orbit around the sun.
• The great red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has been going on for over 300 years.
• You can fit 100 Earths into Jupiter’s great red spot.
• Jupiter has the biggest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede. It is even bigger than Mercury and Pluto.
• Jupiter has a ring just like Saturn and Uranus.
• The Planet has over 60 known satellites (moons) but most of them are extremely small and faint.
• Jupiter is covered by an ocean of hydrogen with a sludge-like consistency.
• Unlike other planets, Jupiter sends out a strong radio radiation that can be detected on Earth.
• In 1994, pieces of a comet called shoemaker-Levy 9 broke apart and crashed into Jupiter. This left patches in Jupiter’s atmosphere that lasted for many months.

One of the things that jumped out at me during the presentation (among many things) was a specific fact they shared about Jupiter. Because of the size of Jupiter it has a very extreme gravitational pull. Jupiter is perfectly placed in proportion to earth to act as a shield for our planet. When meteors and asteroids come flying through space, Jupiter sucks them into to its gravitational pull and takes the hit for Earth. By the time any fragments get through Jupiter’s pull they are small enough that Earth’s atmosphere is able to disintegrate them. The asteroids that Jupiter is hit with would easily destroy earth if it weren’t for Jupiter’s position and power.

Not only does this wonder speak of the creative power God has but what a picture of who God is for us…a shield. He is our protector and our defender. When we are positioned in His will He is a shield around us.

Psalm 3:3

But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.   

The Lord is our glory and the lifter of our head. We were not created to walk with our head down in despair and defeat, though life tries to crush us. It is God who comes and lifts our head to look up in victory! We lift our eyes up to Him the One who sits on high and pours His glory into us.

Psalm 121:1-3

I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth He will not let your foot slip– he who watches over you will not slumber;

We can rest in the peace that God is our Jupiter, He is our covering. I don’t know what you may be dealing with right now, but know this, YOU CAN TRUST GOD! You can put your faith in His will and His ways for your life. Lift your eyes and begin to look up in victory and faith in the One who is Creator God Almighty! Let Him watch over you and gird you! I believe that you are reading this right now this very moment, because God wants you to know that He is bigger than any challenge you are facing! It is not accident that you came across this blog post and are reading this. God directed you here for such a time as this to know that He is at work and wants you to lift your eyes up in hope!

When you lift your eyes up into the night sky and see the beautiful galaxy let it always be a reminder that God is your protector and shield!