The big picture. It’s important to know, but easy to forget about. It’s easy for our thoughts and minds to be completely consumed with what’s right in front of us. Maybe it’s unexpected bad news. Perhaps it was something someone said to you, or a huge event or presentation looming before you. No matter how hard you try, it’s all you can think about, captivating your attention at all times.
We often lose sight of the big picture when hard times hit or when we focus too much on the little details. As believers, it’s often our lives of faith that end up getting pushed to the sidelines when something in life hits us hard and consumes our thoughts. God and His plans are forgotten while we worry about the other issues right in front of us. What happens when we forget about the big picture? And before we even answer that, another question: what is God’s big picture?
A Look at God’s Big Picture
The Bible begins with God creating and dwelling with His creation in the Garden of Eden. It was a paradise where God and man were connected. But you’ve probably heard of what happened next. Adam disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin entered into God’s creation and eventually lead to such corruption that God couldn’t live amongst them anymore (Genesis 6:3).
In other words, people become disconnected from God. And that is not what God wanted. From then on we see Abraham, Moses, the prophets, countless others, and most notably Jesus Christ, all play their part in God’s plan to undo what Adam did. After all of this work, the Bible ends with the prophecy of God returning to this world to restore all.
I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice coming from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:2-4
The Holy City–all of heaven–coming down, uniting with the people of the earth. A world where God reigns, where there is no crying, pain, or death. The start of a new order of things. This is God’s big picture. Reconnecting with His creation has been His purpose and work for the past 6,000 years. Everything in the Bible from cover to cover is the story of how He is making it happen.
Where Is the Devil and What Is He Doing in God’s Big Picture?
God’s plan is weightier than even the biggest things in our personal lives. Knowing and being part of it is the difference between life and death. But if it’s so important, then why are we always losing sight of it? Or maybe we weren’t even aware of God’s big picture to begin with.
There’s always something that needs our attention right now. Many times we trick ourselves into thinking that our lives of faith and God can wait. Life circumstances, family responsibilities, work trouble, sudden situations that we have no control over, often take up the majority of our time and concern.
Is it just me, or does the universe also seem to plague you with more and more of these problems after resolving to follow God? It’s not your imagination and it’s not the abstract ‘universe,’ but in fact, the devil.
Think about it–who would do everything possible to make sure that the space between you and God doesn’t close? Satan, the devil. He himself tried to rise above God and failed. Now, doomed to eternal separation from God, he wants to hurt God in the only way he can. To make sure God’s creation can’t be connected with Him either. So when we make that effort to reconnect, the devil is right there too. Waiting for his opportunity to disrupt and distract.
You Need to Make Sure that You Don’t Become Prey
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
When Satan finds our weaknesses, he will use those to continuously shift our attention and priorities away from focusing on God. He will try to take our eyes off of the big picture. Say I’m someone who loves spending time with my friends. But I also want to learn about God so I start studying the Bible. Now that I’ve resolved to get closer to God and spend less time on other things, Satan is able to use what he knows I want against me.
Suddenly my friends are making vacation plans, nights out, and more. And sometimes I have to choose between hanging out with them or focusing on God more. Or perhaps I decide to join a Bible study a couple of nights a week. But then my work schedule or environment gets crazy, so I come home, exhausted, and not in the mood to do anything else for the night.
But as we see in the verse above, God asks us to be self-controlled. We should remind ourselves of God’s big picture of reconnection, and make sure our priorities and actions reflect that. We should also be alert of how Satan might try to hinder us by examining our own desires and what we value. Because those are the things he will try to use to distract and keep your attention away from God.
The Outcome of Tunnel Vision
The devil’s attacks are to be expected, so what happens when we aren’t able to overcome them? Amidst difficulty, when we lose sight of God’s big picture, here’s what happens.
1. We Are Consumed
Once the devil knows our weaknesses, he’ll use them to take us away from God. Once he finds that thing that occupies our every thought, he’ll pile on that until it starts to pull us away from God. And when we’re preoccupied with those problems, we forget about the One who can help us solve them.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
So rather than getting caught up in what the devil dishes out, we should take a step back and focus on what God has promised to do. And remember that He has promised to help us overcome.
2. We Can’t Contribute to God’s Work
If we’re not paying attention to the big picture of God’s work, the things He is doing to bring His kingdom to earth, then it goes without saying that we won’t have a clear picture of it. We won’t be able to participate in it.
God’s work isn’t a group project you can do nothing for and then get an A by showing up on presentation day. It is individually graded. So we should know what is going on and try to participate in it. However, we see the opposite happening amongst God’s people time and time again within the Bible.
A Lesson from History
Take the Jewish people at the time of Jesus’ first coming, for example. God was working through Jesus at that time. He sent the Messiah to fulfill everything that had been prophesied in the Old Testament. But did the majority of Jews believe Jesus was the Messiah? They didn’t, despite constantly studying the prophecies of the Old Testament.
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
John 5:39-40
They were too focused on the little things rather than God’s big picture. Jesus didn’t look like a Messiah. He wasn’t the king they were expecting to come. He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes.
So rather than listening to his words which were all confirming that he was sent by God, and instead of seeing the big picture of what God was doing, they focused on their own unmet expectations. They couldn’t see God’s big picture and so, they couldn’t contribute to it.
Can you see this happening today? In a world with information true and false at our fingertips, how much easier would it be to get caught up in little details that cloud up God’s big picture? If Jesus came back today in a form that doesn’t match the stained-glass windows, would we be those who focus on the small things that don’t match our own expectations rather than focusing on God’s big picture?
God’s Big Picture for Us Today
Let’s not forget about the big picture of God’s work and miss out. If we do, then we’re giving the devil the satisfaction of separating us from God. And that puts our own salvation in jeopardy.
So let’s take a step back and remember that God has big plans still in the works at this very moment. And for us to take part in them, our lives of faith have to be within and focused on God’s plans. But can we live out our life of faith according to God’s plan if we don’t know it?
Do you know exactly what God’s plan is, the big picture of His 6,000 years of work? Do you know what He is doing today to fulfill it? If we’re even a little shaky on any of these, then we make it that much easier for the devil to interfere. And it’ll be that much harder for us to recognize God’s work of salvation when it comes.
So in those moments when you feel your mind being consumed by things that take you away from God, or something that takes your time away from knowing God more or studying the Bible, breathe, take a step back, and refocus on God’s big picture.
Written by Samantha
Read More
The Great Deception: How and Where Satan Works
It Is Finished: What Jesus Actually Completed
Why Did God Create Satan…Or Did He?
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