For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12
I understand that I may not be the best baker in the world, but things got a little ridiculous here yesterday. I came out to the kitchen to find my family taking one of my baking sheets, placing wood (yes, the stuff you find in a forest) on that baking sheet. As I watched with a strange kind of interest, they did the unthinkable. They put it into the oven to bake!
I had to assess the situation to see if this was some sort of weird dream that I was having or if they were really baking wood in my oven. It wasn’t a figment of my imagination; there was actually wood in there! Why? I’m not too sure and frankly, I wasn’t willing to ask too many questions. Consider me rather leery of the male mind.
Concern was expressed on my part, but my very responsible hubby told me that there was nothing to worry about. Alrighty then, my job was complete. I got assurance the house wasn’t going to burn down, so that was the most important thing. I think that fell under the “don’t worry” category… Don’t think I didn’t keep a cautious eye on that oven though. Later, the whole house started to fill with a nasty smell. Enough was enough! I could just picture flames coming out of my oven door because they put KINDLING in the oven!
This morning I’m sitting here and still don’t know the purpose of baking wood in the oven. I provided lunch, so I don’t think they were that hungry. I don’t have the full picture to the puzzle, but I do believe I have a few pieces. Number one, my oldest was whittling a stick outside. Number two, scout camp is coming up. Number three, he wants to receive an award that requires a bow drill to start a fire. Number four, he was having trouble getting it to work. I believe these are all pieces to the puzzle that somehow make one conclusive picture.
This brings me to some brilliant advice that I got last night that has to do with life. I need to start looking through binoculars instead of a magnifying glass. Since I’m so quick to come back with brilliant responses, I said, “Huh?” I didn’t get it. They both make things appear closer than what they really are, right? Nope, I was made aware of something we already know, but don’t really think about. There’s a big difference. We can focus in on only a small area, but we can’t see the whole picture using a magnifying glass. With binoculars, we see a much larger picture close up.
The truth is there are limits to what our eyes can see, but there’s no limit to what God sees. He has the whole picture just like the guys in my family did, while I had a magnifying glass that gave me a very clear view of a small part that didn’t make sense on its own.
Sometimes reading the Bible can confuse us. We can’t let that happen! So why are we getting confused? Well, are we using a magnifying glass instead of binoculars? A magnifying glass might bring one verse into view, but we’re missing the whole picture, which can lead to confusion.
I challenge you to let God reveal the whole Bible through those binoculars instead of getting confused with that little magnifying glass you’re using.
