Thinking Small
It seems that most advisers are always telling us to “see the big picture.” In the 1990’s, a couple of management gurus even came up with the term Big Hairy Audacious Goals to describe how we should “think big”.
I’m not sure if it has been a blessing or a curse, but I think that “the big picture” is about all that I have been able to see in my business career. I can conceptualize a business plan, but I am terrible at details. Luckily I have had really good people with me that could organize and get things done.
We recently moved into a new house, and I had the opportunity to get our largest television ever for our basement. I have found that what I enjoy most is not so much the huge picture, but the small details that we can see so clearly. The big picture gives life to the smallest details when I concentrate on small areas. (Some actors need to pay closer attention to trimming their nose hairs!)
I believe that a lot of things slip by me when I only look at the big picture. There might often be more usable meaning if I concentrate instead on the small picture.
I certainly recognize and treasure that my wife, Diane, is the love of my life. But, I have a different perspective when I consider that she is the love of my “today”…that she is the love of my “this morning”. I find that this smaller view presents challenges to action that can easily be overlooked if I only see “the big picture.”
That seems to be true with my understanding of certain scriptures also.
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:31-33 NIV
I have recently been focused on trying to understand and fully accept that I can claim all the promises given in scripture for the righteous. I certainly am not what I consider to be righteous. But I am freely given those promises, not because I am righteous myself, but because the righteousness of Christ is credited to me.
However, claiming this promise of Matthew 6 seems daunting when I consider the big picture…having my whole life aligned so that first…above everything, I am seeking his will and his righteousness. I want to, but honestly, I have so many things vying for priority in my life that this Big Hairy Audacious Goal seems almost unattainable.
But what about just today? Could he also be telling me that, if I start my day… if I first seek God’s will and claim his righteousness, he will take care of the worries and needs that I have for the day? Is the challenge and the promise just as real when I look at the small picture?
My prayer is that, as much as I am able, I will truly want the Father’s will and accept his righteousness…today… so that I can embrace his promise to take care of these life issues that might otherwise consume me. Today. Just today. Small picture. And then again tomorrow.
Maybe all the small pictures will add up to make a beautiful big picture.
(I don’t really know much about the overall theology of Joseph Prince, but if you find that you have difficulty accepting how you “qualify” as righteous, you might find this session from Bible.com encouraging .)
Joseph Prince: Understanding Righteousness:
