I’ve always wanted to ask you. Why did you do that to me that time?
Our lives never go as we plan. We map out our future based on what we have and what we think we know now. When we lose what we used to have, it’s hard to imagine our future and thus easy to be stuck on our losses. I’m telling you, it’s so easy to feel resentful to the world, to God.
I’ve lost my status. I’ve been downgraded to a dwarf.
Maybe you got into your dream college, secured the perfect internship, or found the partner you prayed for.
And maybe you don’t have any postgrad plans, don’t get a return offer, or deal with a breakup.
You might think you had so much potential for your aspirations, but you feel like you’ve lost them all.
Why did you have to publicly expel me? Did I do something wrong?
When you lose these external things, it’s not just you who recognize the absence. Others around you notice that you no longer have what you used to have. It might feel humiliating. You might ruminate on what you’ve done wrong and get stuck on “what if…?” What if I had been more future-oriented? What if I had been more disciplined at work? What if I had been someone my partner wanted? What if…? What if I had been just better?”
Trust me, these thoughts are like a black hole, pulling every area of your life into a bottomless pit. Once you get into it, you can never climb back out. Every morning, you wake up feeling suffocated. Every night, you are consumed by regrets – until every night, you get scared of waking up tomorrow.
I’m just orbiting around the Sun, meaninglessly, namelessly, purposelessly.
You may feel like you’re just pushing through each day. You may feel like it’s not going to get any better. Eventually, you don’t even feel resentment. You just feel hopeless, emotionless.
Can you live like this forever?
What would the other planets think of me? I let them down.
You start worrying about how your family and your friends may perceive your failures. You feel like you didn’t give them what they wanted, what they deserved.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
– Proverbs 31:30
But you must realize that you’re standing on things that will fade away: academic validation, reputation, and status. These are indeed all external, short-lived.
Fear the Lord, as you have set your priorities in wrong places and failed to recognize the Lord as your firm foundation.
It must feel good to still be shining, to be recognized as a planet.
Others seem to be doing just fine. You start getting jealous of others who have what you’ve lost. Everyday, black holes are constantly billowing over your head, and you’re scared of when they will drag out all the stars from your life.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
– 2 Peter 1:3
But you must realize that God has provided you with everything you need for a faithful, worthy life. God is the only righteous judge, and you can do His will by knowing Him and getting consumed in Him. He has already called you into this relationship through His grace alone, not through your worth.
Did you reject me because I failed you? I was just made small. How could you disqualify me for something I can’t change?
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
– Deuteronomy 31:8
His presence precedes us. He’s already working in the place you’re worried about, leading you through these obstacles in a way you can’t see. Even when it feels like no one sees your light and the world is being unfair, you’re still His child. Great is His faithfulness, and that doesn’t depend on who you are.
I’m not called by my name. I’m just 134340. No one cares about me now.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways…
What matters the most is being called by His name. Once you identify yourself with God and stand on His faithfulness, you will stop chasing after wrong priorities.
…Then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
– 2 Chronicles 7:14
He listens to you, forgives you, and heals your heart with renewed strength. You will find your hope and delight in nothing else but Him.
You changed your mind about me, based on your shifting standards about what it means to be a planet. I’ve lost everything, my name, my identity, my community.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
– Matthew 6:33 NIV
I am Pluto, once considered the ninth planet but now left to drift in the dark.
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
– Isaiah 40:31
There’s nothing in this world you can’t do in His presence. Even a forgotten, expelled planet shines most brightly in His arms.
So trust Him. Raise a hallelujah. Make it louder and make it your weapon. Even when the storm overtakes you, raise your voice higher up in the sky and make it louder than your unbelief. Then, up from the ashes, hope will arise.
