Short Sighted

When something big and wonderful is happening for you, have you ever taken that opportunity to look back on your life? Did it suddenly give you a clear view of how seemingly “random” events have come together to make the moment? Have you seen clearly how God has woven together a series of things over years and years to bring about this wonderful event? It’s happened for me more than once. Sometimes it’s almost comical. I look back and think, “Lord I was so young and stupid when that happened, or when I met this person, or when I did that crazy thing, and all these years later you are using it to benefit me.” Or, “Lord, I can’t BELIEVE you are using THAT to make THIS happen!”

Romans 8:28 NIV    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

When you are short-sighted, He is a big-picture kind of God.

God thinks generationally. He has marked out our appointed time in history. He KNEW you were coming, fam. When you were born, in the day and age that you were born, it was not a shock. He may not have ordained the circumstances, but He loved you before you were here, and He already knew your talents and strengths and unique gifts.

Acts 17:26-27 ESV    From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

He knew his purposes for you. He knew what and who you were created to be! He sent you at a specific time because he has PLANS for you! He means for you to make an IMPACT on this generation, and on generations to come!

Esther 4:14 ESV     For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

We, as humans, are short-sighted. We are born that way. If we ever know anything else — if we are ever able to look at the big picture — it is because we have learned it.

It’s difficult to explain to a child how washing the dishes, folding towels, and taking care of the dog can produce responsibility, a good work ethic, and compassion in his life. But they do — those things can help shape a child. And even though those things are part of a bigger picture, a child can only see the tedious nature of the day-to-day. Adults are often the same way. We fail to see how speaking kindly to that one person will make any difference. Or how fixing a meal for a sick friend, or taking care of the mowing for our neighbor who has been in an accident can have any impact. But they DO make a difference. Maybe for the person, or maybe for somebody that you don’t even know is watching.

But God sees the big picture.

The son in the story of the prodigal son squandered his inheritance. His WHOLE inheritance. He gave it all up for temporary pleasure. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Esau sold his birthright, his inheritance, for a bowl of stew and a roll. Like, seriously? In other words, Esau gave up what he wanted MOST for what he wanted RIGHT NOW. He was short-sighted. He made hasty and rash decisions based on temporary things. Jimmy Buffett has a song called “Permanent Reminder of a Temporary Feeling.” How many of us have been guilty of that? (You turn your head while I raise my hand, okay?)

Probably all of us at one time or another have been guilty of basing a large decision on a fleeting desire. Hopefully as we grow and mature in Christ, we make those mistakes less often and on a smaller scale. That’s part of gaining wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Through study of God’s Word and experience, we learn to weigh things out, wait on God, remember what he has told us, and be patient.

I know, “patience” is an ugly word, or at least it is in my house. I have never been a patient person. Never. Ever. My Mama always says, “Be careful about praying for patience, because you may not like how the Lord teaches it to you.” I’m the kind of person that may take a while to make up my mind about a particular matter, but once my mind is made up, that’s it. Let’s roll. I want action 10 minutes ago. Now that I am older, I like to think that I have more patience than I used to have. Usually about the time I am thinking that, and patting myself on the back, something happens that has me chomping at the bit. And then I wonder if I have really ever learned anything after all? Or maybe I’m still impatient and short-sighted.

But God is a God of the BIG PICTURE. The REAL BIG PICTURE. The Word says that before He formed you in the womb, He knew you (Jeremiah 1:5). Paul tells us in Ephesians (1:3-4) that He chose us before the foundations of the Earth! That, y’all, is the BIG PICTURE!!

He asks us to do things of which we may never know the full impact, at least not until we get to heaven. We do things today that will affect generations after us. Don’t believe me? Think about your own life. Where were you born? Why were your parents in that particular place? Did it have anything to do with their parents or family? Did being born in that geographical area have an impact on you? And that’s just a small example. The decisions we make as young people, parents, spouses, as adult children, as employees…they all influence the world and the future. I could bore you with story after story in our family. It’s there in your family too, if you think about it. We often don’t think past a few years down the road, at most. But He is a generational God. He blesses generationally. He blessed Abraham and made a covenant with him, and thousands of years later God is still blessing the descendants of Abraham. He knew that when He showed Abraham the Promised land, and gave it to his descendants, that in the 21st century they would be fighting to keep it. He knew that when He sent His son to die for the redemption of sin, that 2000 years later we would STILL need the blood of Jesus, and the new covenant that was sealed with that blood.

God made covenants (promises) throughout His Word, and as Christians we are still seeing the effects of those covenants. God is still blessing people because of the promises he made to Moses, Abraham, David, and others. He keeps his promises. Forever. Even when we do not.

Numbers 23:19 NIV     God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

So don’t be short-sighted. Do the things, both big and small, that God sets before you. Pray over your future, and the calling that He has for you! Understand that hard times are preparing you to STEP INTO THAT CALLING – even if you don’t see it. Pray over your children, and their children, and their children…even if you don’t have any yet. Know that He has plans for you, no matter what your age. Make an impact. Leave a legacy of truth and love. Find value (and maybe even joy) in the mundane. It matters. It matters to eternity. He is a BIG PICTURE, generational God.

 

 

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