Looking at the whole picture

Sometimes when I sit in my backyard all I see are weeds and overgrown plants. I start to complain, both in my head and aloud, that there is never enough time to do the work I need to do to really whip this garden into shape. I think about all the other people I know who have beautiful flower gardens and how they do a much better job of tending their plants and keeping their yards tidy.

Not long ago a friend gave us a picture of their daughter which was taken in our backyard last year. Wow! Was that really my yard? I couldn’t believe how good those flowers looked. Our pond was gorgeous! It was amazing!

I got a new perspective on things and it made me think about all the times I compare myself to other people and come up lacking. Maybe, just maybe, the same thing happens. We are not all Miss America, Martha Stewart or even Elisabeth Elliott. But we all do have talents, abilities, interests and personalities that God has given us. If we didn’t spend so much time obsessing about what we lack, perhaps we could look at the good that we do have and use it! At the very least, we will remember to thank God for the great gifts that he has bestowed on us and become grateful people, rather than complaining ones.

This same principle can transfer to the way we view our youth ministries. Sometimes we start to focus on what is lacking in our church or in our students. Why don’t we have as many kids as so and so in that other town? Why don’t we have volunteers lining up like that other minister down the street? We look at the negatives and we forget to notice the positives.

It’s true, you have to notice the weeds sometimes so that you can be reminded about the work ahead, but we should all strive to look at the total picture more often so that we can see the work that God is doing with our ministries and our lives.