DAILY DEVOTIONAL – April 28, 2020
“The Little Big Picture“
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have called us to follow You. As we do so, grant us the focus to stay in Your Word and have our eyes set on what You are doing in our life right here, right now. Protect us from worrying about tomorrow and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:4-7
4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Devotional – “The Little Big Picture”
Have you ever had one of those little God moments? Those times where God shows up in a very small, but very powerful way? I had one just the other day.
I was meeting with a good friend and Christian brother of mine. We were very casually chatting and getting caught up. Through the course of our conversation we talked about all the many things that were going on in our lives. At one point in the conversation my friend said, “Yeah, so much going on. Sometimes, I feel so consumed with what’s in front of me I can’t see the bigger picture of what God is doing. How is it that we can get to see the bigger picture of what God is doing?”
My friend was right wasn’t he? It is entirely too easy in the rat race of life to have so much piled up in front of us that we blind ourselves to what God may be trying to do in us, with us and around us. At the same time we pray for God to reveal Himself to us and while we so desire to see His hand at work in our life, we are also constantly busying ourselves and preoccupying our attention with many things that may not need to be a part of our life or occupy our thoughts, time and energy.
While we were both kind of thinking and chatting about that a bit more, I just so happened to look up, and right there, just to the left towards the top of the wall, my friend had a large wall sticker on the wall quoting a particular Bible verse. It was verse 7 from our text today in 2 Corinthians 5 which says, “we walk by faith and not by sight.”
After seeing and reading that verse on the wall I kind of chuckled out loud. “What’s so funny?” my friend asked. Not realizing I had just completely tuned him out while having my little God moment, I said, “Sorry, I just couldn’t help but notice how appropriate your wall sticker is given the conversation we are having.” After turning to look at it, he smiled and chuckled himself. “I guess the writing is on the wall isn’t?” My friend comically shook his head and said, “It sure is!”
You know friends, while we should always be mindful of what we busy ourselves with, and guard against distracting ourselves away from an intimate walk of faith with our Lord, the big picture isn’t something that God has called us to be concerned with. The Scriptures often speak about focusing on today, being content to live faithfully where we are at in the moment and not worrying about tomorrow or the big picture.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Proverbs 27:1 – “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
James 4:14-15 – “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
1 Timothy 6:6-8, “6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
Of course, Jesus also teaches us in the Lord’s prayer to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
D.W. Whittle was a prolific hymn writer who wrote literally hundreds of hymns; many of which are still sung today. The refrain to one of his well known hymns entitled “Moment by Moment” goes like this:
Moment by moment I’m kept in His love;
Moment by moment I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is that God has already taken care of the “big picture”. More than that, through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, God resides in our very hearts and is providing and directing our steps each and every day. God has not called us to know or to see or figure out what He is doing in every part of our life, rather, God has called us to stay focused on Him so that we can faithfully follow one step, one day at a time.
What is God’s will for your life? What is the “big picture” He is working out in you, through you and around you at all times? Jesus tells us the exact answer to that question in John 6:40. Jesus said, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” That’s the big picture my friends, and for all who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and who live by faith and not by sight, we can see the big picture clear as day. By faith in Christ we can say just as confidently as Simeon did when he held the Christ child in his very own hands, “for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.”
God bless you my friends. Thanks for spending time with me in devotion today, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
