We don’t always see the bigger picture
- The Room Experience TRME
- Apr 17, 2018
- 3 min read
Entry 34 (Special Issue)
Ever since I gained admission into the university I finished from, I have always looked forward to the day I’ll be found worthy enough to serve my fatherland through the NYSC programme. This is due, not to the incentives given to the participants, but to the opportunity I had always known it would give me to visit new places, make new friends, influence more lives for good and ultimately have fun discovering God’s love and purpose for my life in the relative freedom of that year.
So, you may imagine the rude shock I felt when after all the excitement of careful registrations and patient waiting, I was told to wait a bit…or like I would say “chill a little“. I was really disappointed when after all the high expectations I had built up for the programme, I discovered I’ll have to “tarry” for approximately two more months at home before I could leave for service.
I know you may say “hian…it’s not more than two months now…” Well, you’re right, it’s not more than two months, but believe me, it would seem like two years to you if you have the calibre of friends and colleagues that I have, who will somehow manage to make you feel like an alien for being left out of this initial set of “Otondos“.
I mean, I had things – private projects, programmes and all – lined up for the period and now, I’m being told to “chill small…“! Trust me, it definitely does not fit into my description of fairness.
There are even people before whom I registered, who have been given callup letters to go with this initial set, and here was I, Brother Early-Bird, stalking NYSC website like a notorious serial killer, and hoping that the status of my dashboard was due to the not-so-unusual gymnastics of the website.
Well, knowing the widely-accepted status of Nigeria’s corruption level, I could not afford to be mad at NYSC, so, naturally, God bore the brunt of my anger and disappointment. I ranted, nagged and even threatened Him. As expected, nothing seemed to come out of my emotional manipulations.
However, not long ago, when my spirit became relatively quiet, the Holy Spirit ministered to me through a WhatsApp friend, that situations don’t define the faithfulness of God; His name and acts does. And that the fact that we are unable to see through His eyes presently doesn’t mean He does not have great things in stock for us.
So, I learnt a great lesson, and I’m still learning it, that God’s vision is way way way higher than that of man’s. And He sees the BIGGER PICTURE of everything and He alone knows where and when, per time, our lives and destinies fit in perfectly to this picture.
Therefore, if we would allow Him to carry us on His broad shoulders, we’ll see what He sees and fully understand that He does all things well.
Prayer:
“Abba, we’ll never cease to encounter disappointments in life. But, through them all, please, carry us on Your wide shoulders and help us see through Your eternal eyes the spiritual truths which so readily evade our mortal sights. Help us see the bigger picture and help us know our places in the positions of things. Help us know that situations don’t change Your loving nature, and that even though we can’t see it, You are there, behind the scenes, working for our good, because You know that despite our childish behaviors, deep inside our hearts, we love you deeply and will never trade you for anything else. Help us trust and hope in Your mercies forever, Father of Lights, and let no fleeting shadow bring confusing doubts to our tender hearts. Amen.”
The Holy Spirit inspired me to write a simple poem because of this lesson.
Click here to read: You make all things beautiful
Enjoy!
*NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) is a Nigerian programme for fresh graduates of higher institutions of learning, whereby they are given opportunities to serve their fatherland in different capacities for one year.
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