God's Big Picture

9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Eccl 3:9-13 (NLT)

Well it’s finally here the last day of the year. As we look back upon the year we must look at all the high points and low points and understand one thing God has been present in them all. Each day we are given and all that goes with it are actually gifts from God. I know that there are something’s that happen we may not see as gifts when we are experiencing them:  yet we must understand we are not capable of seeing the whole work that is being done. We are only experiencing the here and now and God has so much more than that going on in the Big Picture. I always liked the illustration of dropping a pebble into the water to explain how life seems to work. When you drop that pebble it creates a ripple that moves out from the center and spreads until it runs out of energy. That is a lot like life we have been dropped  into this life at this time and place so that we can affect it. If we are being diligent in what God has placed before us those ripples that started with us will spread and affect those around us for many generations to come long after our energy has been spent. I know it is hard to enjoy the trials of our lives but those trials create another set of ripples that intern produce an effect on others.  We must learn as Paul did to be satisfied in what God has provided and to leave worry at the door.

In Matthew 6:34 Jesus tells us, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”    I want to leave you with one though over the last year no matter what might have come your way you were never alone. The same holds true as we enter the New Year. As Solomon recommends we should eat, drink and enjoy because all we have both good and bad are gifts from God in the big picture. God bless you in the New Year as you walk in the Light of His Word.