I remember the first time I actually stopped and looked at it. Not memorizing it for a test. Not just recognizing it as something famous. Just… looking at it.

Why does this make sense?

We all hear the same thing growing up—nothing can go faster than the speed of light. It’s a limit. A boundary. One of those rules that just sits there in the background of reality.

And then you see it:
E = mc²

And if you’re like me, you don’t say it out loud, but the thought is there: Wait… doesn’t that mean something is going faster than light? Or at least… something close to it?

I used to think that “c²” meant twice the speed of light. Which already didn’t make sense. That shouldn’t be possible. But even after I realized that wasn’t right, the equation still felt… off. Like I was missing something obvious. It took a while before I saw it.

The equation isn’t talking about speed. Not really. That little “²” means multiplied by itself. The speed of light… times the speed of light. And something shifts when you see it that way. It’s no longer a velocity. t’s just a number.

A very large number.

The equation isn’t saying anything is moving that fast. It’s not breaking the rule at all. It’s doing something else entirely. It’s telling you how much energy is sitting there… inside something that isn’t moving at all. That was the part I didn’t see.

I was reading it like it was describing motion—how fast something was going. But it wasn’t. It was describing what something is. Mass… is energy. Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. Actually. The equation wasn’t wrong. I was just reading it through the wrong lens.

I’ve done that in other places. Not with physics. With things that matter more. I come in with an assumption—how something should work. What makes sense to me. What feels consistent. And when it doesn’t line up, I don’t always question my understanding. Sometimes I question the truth itself. Or at least… I quietly set it aside. Because it doesn’t fit.

There’s a verse I’ve read many times. Familiar enough that it can lose its edge if I’m not careful:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV)

I used to hear that as a general encouragement. Now it feels more precise than that.

Do not lean on your own understanding.

Not because understanding is bad. But because it’s limited. Because I can look straight at something true… and still read it wrong. Maybe the tension I feel sometimes isn’t because something is broken. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to force it into a framework that doesn’t hold. Trying to make it fit what I already think I know.

That equation didn’t violate the laws of physics. It exposed the limits of how I was interpreting them. And I wonder how often that’s happening in other parts of my life. Not everything that feels confusing is unclear. Sometimes it’s just… unfamiliar. Or deeper than I expected. Or asking me to let go of the way I’ve been reading things. 

Maybe the problem isn’t the truth. 

Maybe it’s the way I’m trying to make it make sense.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #E=mc2 #Proverbs3:5-6