The big picture

Or do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given? 1 Corinthians 14:36

Two seemingly contradictory truths lie at the heart of the Christian faith. On the one hand, you and I are unique and unrepeatable, known and beloved by God as His children. The details of our lives matter and we are made for eternity. Yet on the other hand, as individuals we are small and insignificant, cast in the tiniest of supporting roles in the grand narrative of history, here today and gone tomorrow, a mist that appears and then quickly vanishes (James 4:14). 

I believe wisdom is found in holding these two truths closely together in our hearts, never losing sight of one or the other. 

Our participation in God’s great story of redemption gives us a faithful lens through which we can better understand the particular details of our daily lives. As Paul rhetorically asked the early Christians in Corinth, “Do you think God’s word originated with you?” They were greatly helped in their journey of faith by realizing and remembering afresh that they were part of a much bigger story that predated them by thousands of years and into which they had been invited to participate. With centuries of church history that stand between us and the Corinthians, this is all the more true for us.

It is incredibly easy to get lost in the details of everyday life and to cast ourselves as the leading role in the story of our lives. 

As we’ve noted above, in part this is understandable and even right. We must be attentive to the life we’ve been given, living it by faith in God and empowered by his grace. Yet if we sense our life is imbalanced and overly focused on our own story, take time today to remember the bigger picture, giving thanks to God for the countless men and women who came before, bearing witness in their own day to the love of God in Christ. As we do, let us take our place alongside them, living holy and faithful lives that embody the mercy of God in the details of our lives, and at the same time connect our story to the song God is singing over the whole of his creation.