Do You See What I See

Several years ago, I went to Sonic with friends and ordered an ice cream cone. Imagine my shock when the server brought me exactly what I asked for – an ice cream cone – but without ice cream. I tilted my head and questioned, “Um, can I have some ice cream with that?”  His face turned red and he looked down and mumbled, “Uh, yeah. Sorry,” and he turned and went back into the restaurant. The server did what was asked, but his actions were missing something vital – he missed the key ingredient!

Look at the picture above. Can you guess what object is in the picture?

Sometimes we are so close to a situation, that our perspective is limited. We tend to zoom in on one aspect of a given situation, without seeing the bigger picture.  In other words, we can’t see the forest for the trees. We all have blind spots in our lives where we need others to help us find perspective. One of the benefits of having a counselor is the ability to see things from a different perspective.

When Paul was on his missionary journeys, there were several times when he would travel for hundreds of miles only to be prevented by the Holy Spirit to enter a specific place. He would turn around and go a different direction. He could have gotten mad and cried, “God why would you bring me this far only to slam the door in my face now? How dare you!” I am amazed at Paul’s response. He simply kept going and waited for God to speak. There are times when God does things that make no sense to us.

When I was in college, I felt like God was leading me to spend my summer doing missions in England. I had been accepted by the sending agency and God had provided all the funding I needed for the trip. As the departure date approached, my excitement grew. Less than a month before my travel date, I received word that the missionaries on the field were having some personal trials and as a result the trip had been canceled. Not only was I disappointed, but I wanted to know “Why?” Why would God allow me to go through the strenuous application process and support raising only to be denied the opportunity at the last minute?

What I didn’t know was that God had another plan…he could see the big picture. I ended up spending the summer as a youth minister in my home church. God used that summer to call me into full time ministry and gave me a passion for discipling youth. If I had not spent that summer serving in the local church, I may not be teaching teenagers today.

God sees the big picture. He not only knows where we are, but He also knows where He is taking us. When our perspective is limited, we can trust in His ability to see the big picture.