There Is More To The Picture

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 

  

  “There’s always another story. There’s more than meets the eye.” ---W. H. Auden 

  There is so much truth to that. We often see difficult circumstances through a narrow lens that doesn’t let in all the light or the complete image. Sometimes tunnel vision robs us of the entire picture that surrounds us. 

  When I think of suffering, pain, tragedy and loss, I try to remind myself that what I can understand is entirely limited by the fact of my humanity. I’m not God. I don’t know everything. I cannot see all things. I don’t understand all that is involved in every situation, but must allow God to be God, and trust in His decisions and oversight. 

  We pass judgment so easily; we are too quick to think the worst. 

  Humility can be our friend by reminding us that we only see the beginning of the story, just the first few lines in the play, and the end can bring us to a conclusion much different than the circumstances allow right now. Trusting God to bring a good ending to the story, even while the portion we see looks very grim, can bring better understanding to the temporary painful episodes in our lives. 

  Life can deliver us difficult blows, striking us so hard that we fall to our knees. Afflictions of all sorts can disable us, cripple us, and make us feel very small compared to our circumstances. 

  When the dark night of trials and tribulations surround us, when depression crushes us with its mountainous weight, it is then that we must look to God. Even in anger and frustration asking for His intervention in our lives and in our terrible circumstances. Perhaps our frustration is with God, the answer is still to go to Him, tell Him how we feel, and pour the pain of our lives into His hands. That is an act of faith that I believe God will honor. 

  Our lives are very short on this earth, and sometimes God trusts us with pain and misery, with loss and separation of the things we love and cherish. The Lord may not give us good answers to the losses we feel deep in our hearts, but if we will look up, if we will cling to a shred of hope, we can get through today, and perhaps tomorrow as well. 

  God gives us our daily bread, and it is day by day that we must carry our burdens and face our hardships trusting that each day His grace and mercy will pull us through. Only God knows all things and we must trust Him when our vision is narrow and we don’t understand the way ahead. 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, our vision is limited, we do not see what You see, so help us to be humble in that truth. Amen.