The Big Picture

Due to the unreliability of our emotions, we are mostly prone to making a mountain out of a molehill. However, life, as it is, is not just a moment but a journey. Thus, having the big picture in mind always helps guide our steps.

This reminds me of the story of a young businessman who bought his first car. He became the talk of town as well as the clown among his fellow businessmen. They made fun of him all day long because his car was neither the latest nor the nicest. Some just blurted out ‘it’s out of fashion, not even my granny will fall for a car like that’. Nonetheless, this young man was indifferent. So, a colleague queried him on his indifference despite the mockery. In response, he smiled and said ‘well, I have a car now. It carries me anywhere I want to go without the hustle of public transport, that’s the latest in my life. Moreover, I’m not retiring tomorrow, I’ve got many years ahead of me, I may just get a new car’.

This young businessman saw the big picture hence was unperturbed by the mockery of his peers. It is often said that it is the propensity of man to major on the minors of life. Instead of struggling with the pieces, why don’t we relax, take a step back and consider the big picture? This is what Jesus wants us to get when He said “…is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes” (Matthew 6:25).

He wasn’t trying to demonize food or clothes- they are basic necessities. But what Jesus simply did was to square off life with food and the body with clothes and the results were obvious. There is more to life than food and there’s more to the body than raiment. Imagine if we made our life’s purpose about putting food on the table. I think it’s safe to say that we would definitely run at loss. Why? Because it is bad business. Life is priceless and food is priced. We shouldn’t exchange the priceless for the priced.

Today, we see this around us, when people work themselves to their sick beds in the name of putting food on the table or buying this or that. The question remains, is that all that there is to life? Yes, we need food and all other basic necessities, but never at the expense of our lives.

Also, we need not allow our lives to take on a definition of one single event or moment. The fact that something didn’t work out for you doesn’t mean everything will not work out for you. Your life is more than one event or a moment. Learn to get over such experiences and keep your identity intact.

I love the way God works as said in 1 Cor 1:27,” But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong”. God uses the foolish and the weak to prove a point. They may be foolish and weak at one point but when God decides to choose them, they become divine. They no longer are what they used to be. And the best part of it all is that you are chosen so rest in your identity and safeguard it from the not-so-good past experiences.