Scottish preacher James S. Stewart made the distinction between the foreground and the background of life. He used the metaphor of painting and said life has both a foreground and a background.
In the foreground are the things right in front of us; the things close that demand focus; the things we easily feel; or that seem right on top of us. They are the things that are seen. They are as you have heard, “in your face.”
The things in the background of life are the unseen, often invisible for the moment, that are behind or beyond us.
These two perspectives are not divided. The sacred and the secular, the physical and the spiritual, the divine and human are connected. Just two elements of one painting.
Our trouble is often what we really see. It is so easy to focus on the trouble and miss what is in the background that gives perspective to the foreground. We must remember that there are divine realities and promises that are meant to wake us up to focus on the bigger picture beyond the tendency to have tunnel vision fixated on what we first see and often fear.
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27
Is God bigger than cancer? Yes. Bigger than divorce? yes. Bigger than wind and rain, even hurricanes? Yes. Can God handle that problem at work, scheduling issue, or childcare dilemma? Yes. Does he know your thoughts and feelings? yes.
And He longs to be the One you trust, the One to deliver you, the One to strengthen you, and hold you through the storm.
