Step Back And See The Bigger Picture

One day the chamber of commerce in a small town invited a successful businessman to come and speak. The local economy was bad and they were discouraged, so his job was to motivate them. He took a large piece of white paper and made a red dot in the centre of it. “What do you see?” he asked the audience. One person replied, “I see a red dot.” The speaker said, “Fine, but what else do you see?” Others chimed in, “A red dot.” The speaker asked, “Don’t you see anything else besides the dot?” The audience responded with a resounding “No!” The speaker said, “You’ve overlooked the most important thing; you’ve missed seeing the sheet of paper!” Then he went on to explain that in life we are often distracted by small, dot-like failures and experiences. They keep us from seeing the blessings and successes that are more important than the disappointments that try to monopolize our attention and drain our energy. Paul wrote, “A great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” Opportunity and obstacles—they go together like macaroni and cheese or fish and chips. Now, Paul didn’t deny the reality of the opposition he faced; he just chose to focus on the opportunity it presented. A poet wrote, “Two men looked through prison bars. One saw mud, the other stars.” What are you looking at? Are you so preoccupied with what is that you’ve lost sight of what can be? If so, you need to step back and ask God to help you see the bigger picture.