The Big Picture

We’re taught that we need to look at the big picture.  We need to filter our experience based not on what is immediately in front of us, but from a 30,000 foot viewpoint.

For example, we are instructed to consider how the currently intense pain of stubbing our toe compares to the diagnosis of cancer. We are warned that an expected invitation that didn’t come might not be for the reasons we think.  We are cautioned that there’s more going on than we can know.  Looking at the big picture can change everything.

There are countless times when this advice seems to be the perfect solution to getting out of ourselves and understanding that we are part of a much larger creation.  I understand how that can be healthy and eye-opening.

At the same time, I’ve been wondering about the reverse.  Is it ever true that examining that which is mere inches away from us can also be enlightening?



If you’re teaching a child to catch a ball, is it better if you throw the ball from a shorter or from a longer distance? If you’re a bowler, would it help you knock down more pins if the lane was say, 10 feet shorter?  Can we ever run before we walk?  (OK – I know a child or two that have actually done that but it’s not the norm, right?)

So what’s the answer here?  Is the big picture better than the close up or not?

Maybe the results we seek are based on where we are in the picture.  If it’s all about us, our hurts, our humiliations, our failures and our expectations, the high view helps with perspective.  But if it’s all about learning, growing, seeking, experiencing and becoming better at life, perhaps we should welcome the inches immediately in front of us.

Big picture or little, the difference we seek is Jesus. He can help our first steps and He can show us the awe of everything.

Colossians 2:2-3

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.