Seeing The Bigger Picture

(by Elaine Richardson (Western Cape, South Africa))


By the power at work within us [God] is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
-- Ephesians 3:20 (NRSV)

ONE morning I had an appointment and was running late. After I had stopped at a light behind three or four other vehicles, the light finally turned green. But we didn't move. I craned my neck to see the problem.

A car that had made a right turn appeared to be blocking the way as it waited for another light. I could see a large gap between that car and the one ahead of it. "If that car would just move forward to close the gap, we could all get through our light," I muttered.

Eventually the car moved. As it did so, I saw that it was towing a very long, low trailer. I realized that I had been seeing only a part of the situation.

Afterwards, I wondered how many times I have made a decision based on what I could see without asking God to reveal the bigger picture. I thought of the times God seemed not to answer a prayer or to be responding differently than seemed logical to me.

God sees the whole picture, and acts in my life based on a higher view than mine. I have learned not to make decisions on my limited view but to trust God, who looks beyond what we can see.