The Big Picture

Romans 12:4-5 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function; so in Christ we who are many form one body" (NIV).

In order to prevent pride, we must be Kingdom people, people who see the big picture. Instead, we tend to have tunnel vision and are usually concerned only with what affects us. After all, it really is so about us -- right? What an easy and convenient way of thinking. It seems so logical and is definitely a less demanding way of life. But in doing so, we lose sight of God's Kingdom plan and purpose.

Every believer has a gift that is meant to help the body of Christ grow and achieve balance -- every believer including those sandpaper believers. You know exactly who I am talking about - those people who drive you nuts, push your buttons and then sit beside you in the worship service, singing the praise songs at the top of their voices. I have discovered that God uses these difficult relationships to keep my heart, mind and life focused on the big picture -- His picture.

We have an above ground pool. Every year it's a battle to keep it free from algae and keep it nice and clear. It takes the proper balance of chemicals.

Balance is hard to maintain -- in swimming pools, in churches and in relationships -- especially those relationships with sandpaper people, those people who rub us the wrong way. For the church and the relationships within the church to be balanced, every believer must function according to his or her God-given gifts. That is the plan.

"A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church."
(1 Corinthians 12:7 NLT)

Spiritual gifts are neither toys nor weapons but rather tools that the Lord has placed in our hands to use in building the Kingdom of God. When we focus on the gift instead of the Giver, we are missing the big picture, the kingdom picture, and will find it easy to become a prisoner of pride, thinking that we have arrived and are more spiritual than others. Pride destroys unity and sets itself up against God, a very dangerous place to be.

Every gift, every believer and every relationship is important and has a unique purpose in the Kingdom. God is all about relationships. The very fact that He moved Heaven and Earth in order to make a relationship possible between God and man is nothing short of miraculous.

We may believe that our sandpaper person has little or nothing to offer in the way of serving God but scripture is clear that if they are believers, they are part of the plan and are gifted for service. I know -- it just doesn't seem possible, does it? To think that someone like my sandpaper person could be used in Kingdom work just as God chooses to use me just seems so unfair. But Romans 8:28 is either true or false when it says that "all" things work together for our good. To propose any other interpretation of that principle is to negate the Word of God. It is true that God uses all life offers, the good and bad circumstances as well as the difficult and easy relationships to work good in our lives and in His Kingdom.

Sandpaper people need to know that the ground at the foot of the cross is level and that whose they are matters more than who they are. Our own pride keeps us from seeing those abrasive people as God sees them, and loving them as God loves them. We need to choose God's perspective of difficult people, knowing that His grace covers them just as it covers us and that we are all part of God's big picture.

My prayer is for the Lord to allow me to see others through His eyes.

I'm always asking God for sight,and asking him to help others see aswell.