Big Picture/Little Picture

God is a all about the "big picture." Faith is the action that believers put forth as we trust God with the big and little stuff. He sees our lives from the beginning, to the end, and into eternity, so His perspective is what we must learn to employ. The problem comes when we focus on the "small picture" stuff; the little emergencies that blind us to the fact that God is in control, and has a life-plan for us.

Making a living, relationships, job promotions, preparations for a child's education and our retirement--though all very important--are small picture items to God. My pastor, Rick White, preached last Sunday about the life of David. David's seemingly unimportant role of herding sheep was a very important part of his life's "big picture." Though he would be anointed as future king, he went right back to being a shepherd until God called him to the next stage. I might have despaired, going back to that menial job after such a promotion.

It is so easy to let the "small picture" things in life grow to "big-picture" status. When hearing of individuals suffering with depression, I am saddened to learn of the pain that motivates them to take their own life. As an outsider, the particulars may seem trivial, but to the one who suffers with the prospect of continuing life with or without certain things, it is unbearable. Most of the time, those unbearable things can be dealt with in therapy and over time.  Their desperate attempt to relieve the pain robs us of their love and presence. Likewise, and spiritually speaking, the desperate reaction to difficult things in our lives rob God of the great opportunities He has in store for us.

When we allow God to be God, He is given permission to do things in our lives that may not make sense in our every day world. The trials we face today--be they financial, health related, relational, etc.--may be an important valley for us to travel on the way to the mountaintop that God has planned for us. God's Word, faith, the encouragement of other believers, and our spiritual experience are all important, strength-building blessings in life. When we are tempted to give up too early, and the little things blind us, that's when our faith is tested the most. When life is cruising along, and everything is going just as we planned, we don't need God. It's when our solutions fail that we truly look to God.

I write this because God has given me the opportunity to trust Him more this year than in any other time in my life. When circumstances get to the point of desperation, I know it's time to  hide in the bushes and watch God do great miracles--all for the "big picture" in my life.