A fascinating Science Channel program is ‘What on Earth’. Scientist through satellite images explore bizarre geological formations, ancient building sites, weird man-made structures, and unexplained biological activity. The interesting aspect is that no one ever knew many of their discoveries even existed because they can only be seen through the camera lens of a satellite high above the earth. Seeing the big picture always brings new insight. An important tool in today’s wars is the drone that can fly over the battlefield and locate the enemy. Military leaders have understood the advantage of having a big picture of the battlefield all the way back to the Civil War when they utilized hot air balloons to map a battlefield and placement of the opposing soldiers and their weapons.
Think about the vantage point God has. He sees the big picture of the entire universe. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling-place he watches all who live on earth— (Psa 33:13, 14 NIV). In addition, God not only sees the physical, He watches the mystical and supernatural as well. Most comforting to us should be the fact He sees the big picture of time from beginning to the end. We can only observe the present, read records of the past, and speculate about the future. God beholds tomorrow, next week, next year the same as the present. The Lord declares the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). During the Civil War from their hot air balloons soldiers would draw maps and drop them down to the commanders on the ground. They used these for planning their strategy of the attack and also gave troops confidence because they weren’t blindly marching into the unknown.
We could say God has dropped us a map and a helper—the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples about future events that would occur before His return. He knew there would be earthquakes, famines, disease, war, and persecution; difficult times as Paul described. But He also told them See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end (Mat 24:6). He could reassure them because He saw the big picture and knew He would win the battle against Satan and establish His kingdom.
All through scripture we have examples of God opening people’s eyes to see from His prospective. The King of Aram and his army surrounded Dothan seeking to capture Elisha. The next morning, when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (2Ki 6:15) Calmly, Elisha responded to his freaked out attendant that everything was fine. “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Ki 6:16). He prayed God would show the terrified servant the big picture. ” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (v17). The lesson for us is we don’t always see all that God is doing. These verses do not say that Elisha saw the horses and chariots of fire himself. Either if he did or didn’t, he rested in the fact that God saw his situation long before it happened and already had his victory planned out.
In two incidents Jesus told His disciples to feed the large multitude gathered to hear Him teach. Both times they appear a bit disconcerted. “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to fill these people” (Mark 8:4)? “And we only have five loaves and two fishes.” The disciples saw a hopeless situation looking at their lack of provisions compared to the mass of hungry people. Jesus saw a feast with more than they could eat. In the near future the disciples watched as Jesus was stripped of His clothes and nailed to the cross. The disciple saw absolute defeat, hopelessness, and all their dreams of the future dripping blood and dying. In contrast, the Father saw His Son rising from the dead in three days, coming out of the tomb holding the keys of death and of Hades. The disciples hid overwhelmed with grief because they never were able to see the big picture Jesus tried to teach them. They were seeing with their physical eyes and their human emotions.
All through life we face our own hopeless situations—we have only 5 loaves and 2 fishes, we don’t have enough money to go and buy more, or we are isolated with no answer near. Or maybe we stand and watch all our hopes and dreams die. At that point we have three choices: keep staring at your present situation or ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to God’s prospective and the big picture or if He doesn’t show us, we can still rest in the assurances of His Word. He knew our current situation long before it happened and already has victory planned.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Allow the Holy Spirit to show you through His Word the big picture. Rest in the fact that the Lord sees everything in the physical and spiritual realm and He sees your future.