Seeing the Bigger Picture
BY LEON F. WARDELL
The prophet Habakkuk thought that God was unfair when he was told that God would use the very wicked Babylonians to punish the children of Israel. But once the prophet looked beyond the immediate circumstances and began to see the bigger picture painted by God for the future, he boldly proclaimed:Lamentations 3:19-39; II Corinthians 4:7-18 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation (3:17,18).Like our Lord Jesus Christ, Christians of all generations have had to learn obedience by suffering. Why should that be? Because obedient submission to the will of God only comes when we see the bigger picture of which our present circumstances are but a small part. And such awareness of the bigger picture only comes when we are forced to look for it through the crucible of personal suffering.Jeremiah's experience
In Lamentations 3:19-39, Jeremiah speaks to the very concern that Habakkuk had. It was written after the Babylonians had destroyed Judah and the dark prospect of seventy years in captivity lay ahead for the people of God.In the first part of that chapter, the prophet laments over his intense personal suffering at the hands of his own people and associates. He ends
in verse 18 with this remark: "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord."After lamenting his misery, however, Jeremiah offers a prayer of faith. He begins by summarizing all the suffering listed in the preceding eighteen verses: "Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall" (v. 19). God is never upset when we tell Him exactly how we feel. But Jeremiah does not stop there; he continues, "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope."
Humbled and overwhelmed with sorrow, Jeremiah submits himself to God and finds hope. The things about God that brought him hope are found in verses 22-39. For convenience sake, I'll divide that passage into three parts:
God's faithfulness. First and foremost, in verses 22-24 Jeremiah remembers God's faithfulness in showing His people mercy and love.
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.Jeremiah knows that he deserves to be consumed by God; it's only because of God's mercy that he hasn't. Therefore, the Lord is his portion; the Lord is all he needs. In a real sense, Jeremiah knows that help for him is as certain as the promise of a faithful God could make, and he was willing to wait for it.God's goodness. Next, Jeremiah remembers in verses 25-33 that whatever happens, the Lord's ultimate purpose is to be kind to us:
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.This brings to mind Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." And Hebrews 12:11, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."Jeremiah is profiting from the suffering he endures, knowing that "the Lord will not cast off for ever". May those who are young among us take to heart what Jeremiah says in verse 27: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." As an old man, Jeremiah recognizes the benefit of early afflictions by which to learn the
lesson of patience and cheerful resignation under the severest personal afflictions.God's sovereignty. Third, Jeremiah remembers that nothing in the world is done without God's will being behind it simply because God alone is sovereign. He is the Lord, the God of all flesh. Acknowledging that what we call either good or bad ultimately depends upon the will of God, Jeremiah says in verses 34-39:
To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?The man Job knew this, for when everything was gone, including his physical health, he said to his wife: "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (2:10)May each one of us recall who the God of the Bible declares Himself to be, and, like Jeremiah, hope in Him and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. In other words, sorrow itself has its good side because it produces that silent endurance of which Jesus said, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mark 13:13).
When we know God this way, we are able to view our present circumstances as a part of the bigger picture so that we, like Jeremiah, stop our complaining about the present and thank God that we're not consumed! It was this complaining spirit that prompted the children of Israel to lust after evil things throughout their wilderness journey with the result that they never came to see the bigger picture God was painting for them. They had a sad ending, perishing in their misery and unable to enter into God's rest.
Paul's experience
In II Corinthians 4:7-18, the Apostle Paul also underscores the importance of the Christian placing all his hope in the God of the Bible and not in man or earthly circumstances. He shows us the importance of our recalling the bigger picture rather than being confined to the limited viewpoint of our immediate present circumstances. We read in verse 7:But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.Paul begins by reminding us of the fragile condition of our earthly existencewe're living in nothing more than an earthen vessel, perishable and destined for dissolution. Yet, in Jesus Christ, we are predestined not to perish but have everlasting life! Why? Because of the "excellency of the power" of God in us.He then expounds on that excellency in verses 8?10, saying:
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.Note that in each couplet, the second word is the extreme of the first. Praise God, we have not been reduced to that extremity! Or, as Jeremiah put it, we are not consumed. Like the Apostle Paul, we need to know that in the bigger picture the quickening power of the Lord in us will deliver us from all our distresses, including that brought on by our last enemy death. May the cries of our present afflictions and suffering never drown out the still small voice of the truth of the Gospel which tells us "that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus" (v. 14)that is, death shall be swallowed up in victory!Refreshing picture. It's in verses 16 and 17 that the Apostle Paul puts the bigger picture into words, telling us that it refreshed his inward man under the exhausting influence of his sufferings:
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.It is the hope of glory (hope in the sense of assurance) with which the Spirit of Christ has inspired him that shows him that all his sufferings are only the momentary and slight inconveniences of a transition state. Recall what he writes to the Roman believers: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (8:18). Never forget that there's more to life than what meets the eye. Our afflictions and sufferings here on earth will pass away while the glory to be revealed in us when Jesus comes will last for ever.A limited viewpoint of our present suffering would deny this; but, as we get the bigger picture, we know that however long and prosperous our physical life on earth may be, it is insignificant in length and beauty in comparison with eternity. Only by seeing the bigger picture can we know that those things that our physical senses perceive are transitoryhere today and gone tomorrowwhile those things that our senses cannot perceive, the eye of faith alone sees, will never pass away.
Lively hope. The Apostle Peter speaks of this assurance that all believers have, saying, God "hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:3-5).
May God give us the grace and the faith to see that any present hardship or suffering we may be going through is transitory; it, too, will pass. May our faith be like that of Abraham of whom Jesus said, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56). Let us rejoice today, as Abraham did in his day, in what only our faith in God can see!
May God give us the grace and the faith not to faint in the midst of adversity but, like Jeremiah of old, to patiently wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Conclusion
How does God expect us to endure suffering and hardship, grief, pain and even death? The same as Jesus did. And how did Jesus endure the shameful death of the cross for our sins? Through a knowledge of the bigger picture. Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross knowing that afterward He would be exalted and given a name which is above every name. And He did it for the joy set before Him.Jesus knew the bigger picture. He knew what His suffering and death would accomplish. Therefore, at the moment of His arrest, He was able to say to Peter, "Put up again thy sword ...Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matthew 26:52-54) And He could later say to Pilate, who boasted that he had the power to crucify Him or set Him free: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11).
Learn to see. God expects us to learn to see the bigger picture that He has planned for us as Christians so that, like Jeremiah, we will hope in God alone. And like the Apostle Paul, we will not faint no matter what our outward circumstances may be, but wait upon the Lord. (If you're having trouble waiting patiently for the Lord to work, prayerfully read Psalm 37, putting your particular difficulty in place of that mentioned by David).
The man Job struggled to see the bigger picture even though he knew that he received both good and evil at the hand of God. He had to patiently endure suffering before he could finally say, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5,6). Seeing the bigger picture, he was able to pray for his three friends who had done everything but comfort him when he needed it most.
Never forget these words of the prophet Isaiah: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (40:31).o
Rev. Leon F. Wardell, retired, was the senior pastor of The Calvary Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, Virginia. He is now the Executive Director of The Calvary Ministries of New Hampshire, 45 North Main Street, Bristol, NH 03222-1413.