Put Your Problems in Perspective

Sometimes, we consider our problems insurmountable. When you are down and out and feel hopelessly lost in a sea of troubles, consider these figures:

If you drove your Porsche 918 Spyder 186,000 miles per second for one year without stopping for gas, a restroom break, or to get directions, you would travel one light-year.

The observable universe is about 93 billion light-years in diameter. This means it extends more than 46 billion light-years in any direction from Earth. To reach the edge of the observable universe, your Porsche 918 Spyder must speed 186,000 miles per second for 46 billion light-years.

Because the observable universe expands by one light-year for every Earth year. When you reach your original destination 46 billion light-years away, you’ll still have another 13.6 billion light-years to travel. After traveling all those miles, I wonder what you would get when you traded in your Porsche 918 Spyder.

Closer to home, let’s consider our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across and 1,000 light-years thick. Our solar system is located about 26,000 light-years away from the center of the galaxy. It takes our sun 250 million years to orbit the Milky Way.

Our sun is just one of approximately 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Scientists estimate that there could be as many as 3.2 trillion planets within our galaxy alone. According to NASA, there are about 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.

That would give your Porsche 918 Spyder 3.2 trillion gas stations to get out of our solar system. And don’t worry. You would not run out of gas. There will be another 3.2 trillion gas stations for each galaxy. Just think of the bonus miles you would get on your credit card!

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-5

We are minuscule lights in the deep darkness of the universe, but some of those lights sparkle. Let your luminosity sparkle. Your radiance brings light to those around you.