One day I received a picture in an email. I opened the picture, but all I could see was a formless mass of pixilated color. Fearing it was some horrible virus that would send my computer into the digital netherworld, I was about to delete it. But then I saw the real problem. The image was being displayed at the highest magnification level. All that could be seen was an extreme close up of one part of the picture. When I zoomed out and looked at the whole picture from a different perspective, it made sense.
Depending on the day and who you listen to the sky is falling and life as we know it is ending. At the very least, these are some very unsettling times. Adversity and uncertainty tend to cause tunnel vision. We become so focused on our current problems we lose sight of the bigger picture of what God may be doing. This was Job’s dilemma. He was consumed with the miniscule pixels of his suffering and was unable to see the big picture. He wanted answers. So God gave Job some much needed perspective in Job 38. “Where were you,” He asks for starters “when I laid the earth’s foundation?” God, then, asks a series of questions revealing Job’s limited perspective. Rebuked, Job is reminded that there are things he is unable to comprehend. He sees the big picture and trusts in God, the Creator.
In varying degrees, we all suffer from a myopic view. It’s like trying to appreciate a Mozart symphony by listening only to nine notes or capturing the beauty of a Monet painting from two inches away. Both require some distance and a larger perspective to appreciate them.
After Jesus’ crucifixion, His followers were bogged down in uncertainty, sorrow, and fear. We see this because of where they looked for Jesus on the first day of the week–in a cemetery (Mark 16:6). Myopic vision sees the word “crucified” and, convinced it’s all over, looks for Jesus among the dead. Panoramic vision sees “He has risen! He is not here” and knows that God is not yet done. The angel at the tomb testified that something more incredible than they could ever imagine had happened. And so we trust that God is not finished with us yet. We trust in our God who laid the earth’s foundation, set the constellations in place, and defeated death. If we can trust God with our deaths, we can surely trust Him with our lives. I think this is good news in these times of fear and uncertainty.
(Originally published in The Lookout magazine, reprinted with permission)
Chris Higgins 