The Big Picture; My Seeing God

Isn't it so easy to sit down and wallow in the negative things that inevitably happen in our lives? We can easily get caught up in the little things that aren't "right," but all that does is drag us down. From way down there in the "depths of despair," it can be difficult to see anything but those things around us... the things we don't like.

That's kind of how it was when we first got up here. We were afraid that we might be unhappy, so we saw reasons to be unhappy. Usually when you look for something, you'll find it. Outwardly we were pleasant, but inside something was off, and we knew it. It wasn't anybody's fault, so don't hear me blaming someone; besides, being discouraged every now and then is just a fact of life. So, we prayed, and hoped, and prayed, and talked, and prayed some more. We began looking for the positives, and we restructured our ideas, priorities, and attitude; renewing our minds (Romans 12:2).

And you know what? It worked. Usually when you look for something, you'll find it. We started to look for and see more positive things, we grew encouraged, and there wasn't some nasty beasty rankling in our hearts. We were free.
It was really hard for me to talk about (hence the blog silence lately). Somehow I had it in my mind that if I talked about being a little discouraged at Bible school then that meant I would never make it as a missionary in PNG. Bible school is small faith potatoes compared to life and faith in a third world country, right? Wrong.

The problem was that we weren't seeing the big picture. Instead of looking at what the Lord was doing right here and now, we looked at what wasn't happening right now. I was totally missing the big picture of what He is doing. The Big Picture is so much more grand and intricate than I could ever imagine, and I'm just one tiny part of millions in His glorious plan.

In the story of Abraham, he and his wife, Sarah, take matters into their own hands as far as an heir goes, and Sarah sends her servant Hagar in to be with Abraham; and she gets pregnant. Angry because she is barren (and ahem jealous), Sarah treats Hagar harshly and she runs. But The Lord appears to Hagar, and speaks with her, reminding her that she has to submit to her mistress; suddenly she sees that where she was setting out with only the babe in her belly, the Lord saw where she didn't. In praise, she gives Him a name (Gen 16:13) -- "You are a God of seeing."

Seeing. God sees where we can't. He sees where we don't.
Do they really, really need pilots in PNG right now? Yes. Are we a pilot ready to help with that need? Yes. Does God know these things? Of course He does. He is a God of seeing.

But guess what? By not going to PNG right now, we're able to...
...renew Josh's green card without rushing
...be at his brother's wedding next summer
...get a third year of work experience (required by the PNG government)
...spend another year raising support
...possibly get training in a new airplane on its way to PNG
...and more.

Our God is so great. He saw where I didn't want to look, and where I wasn't capable of looking. And He guided me right to where I needed to be, and encouraged my heart in ways I can't express. So if you're discouraged right now, maybe you should try stepping back and seeing the big picture instead of what's going on in your view.

...and praise His Name. It helps. :)

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