Big Picture. Full Picture.
- Now Think On This
by Steve Martin
“You're
a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.” Psalm 36:9 (THE
MESSAGE)
You are surrounded by the forest. All around you is nothing except the dense foliage, with a few streaks of sunlight piercing the darkness. You can’t see much at all and you think this is it. This is the known world.
As the camera pulls back, the forest gives way to a winding
river, and then majestic clouds as the view expands higher up. Moving quickly
now, you see through the lens a large land mass, surrounded by a huge ocean.
Then the round ball of earth comes into further view, followed by a galaxy with
massive groups of stars. There is no stopping point to the vastness of the
creation.
At times our world we move in seems nothing more than what we
can see through the trees in the forest. The daily routines, work schedules,
and the ongoing maintenance of life keep us from seeing the big picture. For
some, our boundaries are the small confines we are familiar with, and it
sometimes seems that is all we can handle. Keeping life simple, within that
established and familiar perimeter, is ok within our world, we at times believe.
For many, the bigger picture is rarely seen, if at all. Just
maintaining the day in, day out routine is enough for the typical person,
seeking to make it through another week, another season, another year. What is
happening elsewhere offers nothing that will touch our lives. Or so it would
seem.
To have a world concept, to go beyond what we typically come in
contact with, requires something outside of ourselves. It will push us to see
more than we would normally want to see, to get involved within a sphere
outside of our own. Having a world view will require more than the “me and
mine” attitude, if we are to affect the world beyond our known borders.
At times I am content to keep within the confines of the world I
typically walk in – to do well on the job, maintain the few relationships I
have, and accept the routine I have grown accustomed to. It just seems good
enough. And yet fulfillment lacks. More must be attained.
Seeking the Lord’s purpose and plan for our lives will bring the
full picture in view, as we realize that His world, the one we have been called
to walk in, is beyond ours. Having His vantage viewpoint gives us the
opportunity to get beyond our immediate surroundings and expand our world view.
As time goes by, the zeal we had to change the world in our
youth must not be replaced with a complacency and tendency to shrink back from
serving His purposes. Rather than believing we have completed our assignment
and can now sit back and let others do it, our prayer must be to have His
passion and love for the world renewed in our spirit. It is a daily walk, one
that by His grace we can keep pressing on to achieve.
The enemy would like for us to sit back and let the world go by,
allowing “que sera sera” – whatever will be will be. But that is not what we
have been given to do, and we must continue to walk by the guidance of the Holy
Spirt, Ruach HaKodesh, to be overcomers in this life.
The big picture, the full picture, has the world in view. Our
place in this world is to continue to bring His kingdom into that part that He
has for us to impact and fulfill. Until He calls us home to our eternal reward,
let us keep seeking the Lord so we can be instruments of His love here on
earth.
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Love For His People. Inc.
Love For His People,
Inc. is a charitable,
not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love
of the Father in the nations.
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– Thank you very much.)
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Now Think On This #165
- “Big Picture. Full Picture.” by Steve Martin
Date: In the year of
our Lord 2015 (01.05.15) Monday at 9:00 am in Charlotte, NC
All previous editions
of Now Think On This can be found on this
Blog, and on our newest website: Now Think On This
