Look at the Big Picture

"Now all glory to God, who is able,

through His mighty power at work within us,

to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

(Ephesians 3:20)

Sometimes when we look at each individual incident in our lives, and fail to look at the whole picture, we can become disappointed. And even angry at God. I love how Jennifer Kennedy Dean explains this in Live a Praying Life. She writes, "Don't focus your faith on a specific outcome; focus your faith in God. When you place your faith in an outcome, you will often be disappointed. When you put your faith in God, you will never be disappointed."

I know that I have done this, that I have sometimes just looked at the here and now, and that I have been disappointed in what God did in a specific incident. I grieved deeply, and asked God "Why?" when one of my daughters lost her unborn baby at 20 weeks of pregnancy ... and again later, when she lost a precious foster-to-adopt daughter. I struggled through times of questioning God during those situations, and also during some other deep trials that we have gone through.

It is hard when we cannot see the whole picture. And there was no way that I could have seen the big picture, for the two sweet little boys that were to come into our daughter and son-in-law's hearts and home had not been born yet. But through those times, even in the midst of deep grief, we can keep our eyes on God, for He knows the big picture.

The author of Live a Praying Life writes, "Don't put a period where God has put a comma. ... A crucifixion is only the prelude to a resurrection."

Thank You, loving Lord, that You desire "to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." Help me to keep my eyes on You, and not on my circumstances ...