Tuesday, November 25, 2014

A New Perspective [On Squanto]

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9  

One of the things I love about my phone camera is the ability to zoom in or out with only a move of my finger.  All it takes is a flick of my hand to change my focus.

What if we were able to zoom out and see our lives from God's perspective?  What if we truly believed He is involved in every picture of our lives?  What if we allowed His hand to change our zoom and refocus our vision?

What if we zoomed out?

This year our family endeavored into the adventure of homeschooling.  Yesterday, we watched a video to learn more about Squanto, the Native American who helped the pilgrims learn to plant and survive in the New World.

I never knew Squanto's life resembled Joseph in the Bible until yesterday.

In summary, Squanto grew up as a child in America (before it was America).  He was taken captive one day by Spaniards, and sold into slavery in Spain.  Monks purchased him, not to be a slave, but to care for him.  They taught him about God and he learned English.  The monks knew he wanted to return home and eventually everything lined up for him to return home.  However, when he arrived, his village wasn't there.  He learned that everyone in his village had died from illness.  He lived in the forest alone with the Lord until the pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock.

He was able to help the pilgrims because of his time overseas and learning English while there.  What man had meant for evil, God intended for good (Genesis 50:19).  Amazing.

If we took just one snapshot of Squanto's life and saw only that he was taken captive or only saw that he was sold as a slave, we might miss the bigger picture of God's greater purpose.

Back to my camera, if I zoom too far in, I can't see the bigger picture.  It appears blurry, muddled, and without purpose.  Zooming out allows me to see things more clearly.

We are but a tiny dot.  We can trust our loving God.  His hand never fails.  What may look like a blurry, muddled mess may actually be part of a bigger picture unseen.

I will say it again...

We can trust our God with our blurry, muddled mess.

We might not be able to understand, but we can trust His hand.

Dear Lord, show us Your perspective and Your vision.  Loving Father, we ask for You to refocus our minds and our hearts to You and what You are doing even in the middle of the messiness of life.  Lord, we give You thanks for Your love and Your hand in our lives.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.  
















2 comments:

  1. Eating this up this morning. Even in the midst of my adversities I can know that God is in control and has a plan for my life.

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