You can’t see the forest for the trees. I don’t know if you have ever been told that, I don’t think I have, but I have heard it several times. It sounds dumb at first, but I have often caught myself doing just that. I can’t see the big picture, because I’m focusing on all the little things.

In one respect, this is somewhat necessary for me; I do not handle seeing the whole complete picture at one time very well. I need to see where I’m going, but then I have to take things in small chunks, or risk getting overwhelmed. That, in and of itself, is not bad. But, taken to the extreme, as I’m extremely apt to do, means I lose focus on God ultimately. I begin to forget that He is all knowing (omniscient), all powerful (omnipotent), and all present (omnipresent). That’s a recipe for bad times.

As of this post, Pastor Jeff is going through Hosea during the sermons on Sunday (at Blue River Island Baptist). Israel is being told that they need to return to God; they have strayed after their own interests. They have forgotten all that God has done for them, and given them. With all that the nation of Israel had seen in its past, they still wandered away. Of course, I can sit here and “Tsk, tsk,” them all all I want. I’d never do a thing like that. Yeah, sure. I have a copy of the Bible no more than 20 feet away from me at any given time; when I am working on the computer, the resources I have access to increase dramatically. Yet, I still find ways to wander away and forget what God has blessed me with.

I get to where I cannot see the Creator because of the creation all around me (were you getting worried I wasn’t going to get back to the point?). Instead of seeing the work of God all around me, I see stuff. God still points us toward Him. We have the Bible, and we can see what He has done when we get together with others. But we have to stop focusing on the small bits, or we will miss the big picture entirely. Like the one tree that God used to save us from our sins.