The larger Picture ...

Monday, May 4, 2015. Sometimes it is good to step back and see the larger picture. We can be caught in details, missing the key purpose of something. When we are too involved to see the forest, but when we are stuck with the trees, we need to step back!

Some work for the mind …

It can be hard work for the mind, to see the larger picture. In my job I talk to many people who are responsible for this and that. And I observe their struggle to organize units or divisions, groups or even whole institutions. It is quite some challenge to see the larger picture - and then break it down into concrete steps which can be communicated and which form clear and motivating goals for the people who have to carry them out.

When you try to sort your own life, the task is similar. There are many things to juggle, many things to do. Family is there, kids, money, living, food, house, job, duties, goals, wishes, perspective, security, savings, car, hobbies etc etc.

What do you do to gain a clear insight into the larger picture? I would say it is non-trivial. You need effort and time, to see it. It does not need to come quickly. It can be quite some work, to gain the larger picture. It is a creative act. It is an act of silence, of retracting yourself.

May I suggest that prayer is an important ingredient of this process? How could you find a larger picture which is sustainable and fits reality without prayer, without searching God and his insight into your situation? You will need prayer, your own prayer, and possibly also the prayer of others to help you to succeed here!

Quiet life and a Saviour …

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1 Tim 2, 1-7)

The dignity of life is coming from the Lord. He loves every single human on the planet - with a love which is fully personal, and full of appreciation and value. We cannot earn more than that! (RWEP) ... more texts