Not that long ago, the number one billion was big enough. There were only four billion people on the Earth at that time. (Even now, there are only 6 billion of us!) In the past, when astronomers wanted to boggle our minds with the number of stars in the sky, writers like Carl Sagan would suggest "billions and billions of heavenly bodies."
So it was a sort of mind numbing experience last year when we began to hear our political leaders talking about trillions of dollars. Suddenly we had started counting at warp speed! One day the entire population of Planet Earth could fit into one digit with nine zeroes! The next day, we were spending $1,000,000,000,000 more than we were bringing in!
I guess a lot of us thought, "Well, that's a lot of money, but it's really only three more zeroes than a billion. What's the big deal? It's just inflation, right?"
A few months ago I came across a magazine article that burst my little bubble of comfort. It has haunted me ever since. The facts are so unfathomable that I cannot get them out of my mind. What's a guy to do? I'll share them with you.
A futurist and researcher named Jack Uldrich explained that a million, a billion, and a trillion are radically different concepts. And the difference is more than just three zeroes. Ponder this:
Q: If I should mention an event that happened 1 million seconds ago, can you guess how long ago that many seconds would be?
A: 12 days ago
Q: Now think in larger terms. How long ago would 1 billion seconds be?
A: 30 years ago
Q: If 1 billion seconds takes us back three decades, how long ago would 1 trillion seconds be?
A: 30,000 BC
What's the difference between one trillion and Eternity? It's simple: God is in charge of Eternity. And, happily, He knows what He's doing. In times like these, we should all listen a lot more to Him, and a lot less to those talking heads on TV. Selah.
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