Let Go of the Small Things
Many years ago I was having lunch with a good friend who had just picked up her vacation photos from a great cruise she had been on and was so excited to look at them for the first time and share them with me. We began to look at all these beautiful pictures of blue skies, sandy beaches, and cute little shops at the various ports. I was having so much fun looking through them, but all of a sudden she burst out, “I look terrible in that picture…and this one! I’m not wearing that outfit again.” She began to pick herself apart in photo after photo. She went from enjoying reflections of her wonderful vacation to focusing on negative things about herself that I couldn’t even see.
Sometimes the smallest things that don’t really matter can really irritate us. We forget the big picture. We forget to look at the blue skies, the sandy beaches, the smiling faces, our children. When we see the flaw in the picture, especially when it involves us personally, that’s all we focus on. And all of a sudden, everything turns negative.
Think about Adam and Eve. They were in a perfect garden—beautiful, lush, flowers of every kind, fruit everywhere they went. They could eat all they wanted and not gain weight! There was no laundry to do! All they had to do was care for this amazing, God-given garden. Then one day Eve focused her eye on a single tree, the one tree in the garden from which God had told them they could not eat. On that day, that tree became the biggest thing that she saw and distorted her view of the whole garden. All she could see was what she didn’t have.
We can’t let what we think are flaws in our lives distort the whole picture. We can’t let one forbidden tree distort the amazing life God has given us. Let’s focus on the whole picture, what we do have—the loving relationships, the abundant provisions, the gifts and talents, the grace and love of God. In the long run, the flaws don’t matter at all.
Don’t live in regret by focusing on what you think is less than. Enjoy what God has given you right now. Soak in the beauty of the moment.
Sometimes the smallest things that don’t really matter can really irritate us. We forget the big picture. We forget to look at the blue skies, the sandy beaches, the smiling faces, our children. When we see the flaw in the picture, especially when it involves us personally, that’s all we focus on. And all of a sudden, everything turns negative.
Think about Adam and Eve. They were in a perfect garden—beautiful, lush, flowers of every kind, fruit everywhere they went. They could eat all they wanted and not gain weight! There was no laundry to do! All they had to do was care for this amazing, God-given garden. Then one day Eve focused her eye on a single tree, the one tree in the garden from which God had told them they could not eat. On that day, that tree became the biggest thing that she saw and distorted her view of the whole garden. All she could see was what she didn’t have.
We can’t let what we think are flaws in our lives distort the whole picture. We can’t let one forbidden tree distort the amazing life God has given us. Let’s focus on the whole picture, what we do have—the loving relationships, the abundant provisions, the gifts and talents, the grace and love of God. In the long run, the flaws don’t matter at all.
Don’t live in regret by focusing on what you think is less than. Enjoy what God has given you right now. Soak in the beauty of the moment.