- Soccer balls are usually stitched from 32
panels of waterproofed leather or plastic: 12 regular pentagons (five-sided
figures) and 20 regular
hexagons (six-sided figures). The 32-panel arrangement is similar to the polyhedron known as the
truncated icosahedron, except that due to the faces bulging from the air
pressure inside, it becomes more round.
This shows the truncated icosahedron on the left, and the rounder,
inflated soccer ball on the right.
-
You can actually download your own truncated icosahedron to print out, color, cut
out, and fold together
here!
- This shape was also the configuration of the
lenses used for focusing the explosive shock waves of the detonators in
the Fat Man atomic bomb, and is also a molecular spherical arrangement
of pure carbon atoms known as buckyballs (a.k.a. fullerenes).
- The truncated icosahedron is a 32-faced
Archimedean solid, and the surface area (S) and volume (V) of the
structure can be described mathematically, given a unit length, as:
- All of this gets more and more complicated, and I
don't understand any of it any more than you do.
So what is the point of all of this soccer
ball anatomy and geometry? Imagine if the soccer players shown in the
pictures above had
to know and understand all of these mathematical details in order to play soccer.
Imagine if the players had to be able to describe the various physics of
soccer ball movement before they were authorized to even begin to practice.
Are any of the details listed above necessary for these children to be able
to enjoy a game of soccer? Obviously, no.
However, all of these details are extremely important
for us to be able to play soccer. If something was not right about the
construction of a soccer ball it might explode on impact, or it might cause
injury to the players. We don't need to know or understand great
detail about how a soccer ball is put together, but thank God there are
people who do understand these details, in order that a soccer ball can be
safely and effectively designed.
Do We Have to Fully Understand God?
What if we had to completely understand everything
about God before we could believe in God? What if we had to know
everything that Jesus ever said or did before we could accept Him as Savior?
What if we had to know and understand everything in the Bible, and perfectly
follow every command set forth in the Bible before we could even approach
the Lord in prayer?
Fortunately, we do not have to know everything about
God to believe in God, and in fact, it is impossible for anyone know
everything about God.
"For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares
the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
- Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)
"Do you not know? Have
you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends
of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no
one can fathom."
-
Isaiah 40:28 (NIV)
"As you do not know
the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so
you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things."
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)
It is impossible
for the human mind to understand the nature of God, how He created the
universe, how He works in us and in the world. Unfortunately, this can
be a stumbling block for some people who refuse to believe in God because
they do not understand such things as:
-
How did God create the universe from
nothing?
-
How did God exist before time?
-
How can God know everything before it
even existed?
-
How can God know every hair on my
head, and every thought that I have?
-
How can God and His Son Jesus be the
same?
-
How can a Holy Spirit come to live
inside of me?
-
How can a man be resurrected from the
dead?
-
How is it physically possible to
receive a new body and be united with Jesus after we die, and have
eternal life?
No one has the
answers to these questions, except through faith. God defies the laws
of logic, and God exists apart from the physical laws of the universe.
We do not need to understand the physics of God to believe in God.
"By faith we
understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is
seen was not made out of what was visible."
- Hebrews 11:3 (NIV)
Do We Have to Fully Understand
Everything About the Bible and Follow Every Command?
It is important to study the Bible, as it
is God's revealed word for us to understand what our earthly minds are
capable of understanding about God. It is like an instruction manual
for our lives. However, only through prayerful study can the true
meaning of the Bible be revealed to us individually through the Holy Spirit.
Different people can apply passages of the Bible differently based on their
own life experiences.
"No eye has seen, no ear
has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love
him - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."
- 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV)
But how much of the Bible do we have to understand in
order to believe? Is there ever enough that we can know or do to gain
favor with God? Jesus has made this easy for us. Because of
Jesus, all that we have to do is to believe in Him, and He
will do the rest. We don't have to understand it, just believe.
Once we believe, understanding will be revealed to us.
"If you confess with your
mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved. . .For, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved."
- Romans 10:9,13 (NIV)
And Jesus himself said, in Mark 5:36,
"Don't be afraid; just believe."
 |
Dear Lord, I can never understand even the smallest part of You, how You created
and sustain the world, and how You work in the world today. But You are
the Creator and Sustainer of the world, and You have a plan for my life.
Even though You are all powerful over the whole universe, You loved me enough to
send Jesus to die for my sins and to give me everlasting life with You. I
pray that You would give me the understanding that You need me to have in order
to glorify You, and to continue my work in Your Kingdom.
In Jesus name I pray.
Amen.
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