Everything in our life occurs in the present moment. Because of this, it can be a challenge to keep the events of life in context of the bigger picture.
In my family, our young boys’ lives are centered around play and snacks. Just about every decision, complaint, and desire of theirs focuses on satiating their hunger for fun and food in the moment. Our older sons, now grown young men, have matured beyond the self-indulgent appetites to have concerns focused on starting their journey into adulthood. As such, being interested in their well-being, my wife and I bring those concerns into our own lives. Their concerns become ours too. In addition to our investment in their upbringing, we have myriad other concerns that we have accumulated from our own grown-up responsibilities we’ve picked up along the way. Things like the Work of the Church, employment, physical health, home ownership and much more put demands on our time. I bring this up to illustrate the up-close micro details that consume our attention, bring us delight, stress us out, and consume the resources of our days. This is what our lives consist of in the moment: Getting to work on time, getting food on the table, coaching our children to shape their lives.
In an up-close view, the substance of concern in our lives becomes magnified by the demands of our daily activities. The molehills of concern are mountains in the moment. Even the most trivial kind of problem, such as a wrong turn on the way to an appointment is the most important thing in the moment. In the close-up view, our activities appear to be an accumulation of little things right in front of us.
To say this is not to diminish the importance of our immediate attention, physically, mentally, nor emotionally. The little things really are important! People must necessarily operate on the little things that are right in front of them. Our interface with the world is limited to that which we can directly affect. All we can do is work with the moment, material, and people which are immediately before us. A journey of a thousand miles requires taking one step after the other.
The Bible makes it clear that the little things matter in our lives and also explains why they matter. “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). The way that we live in the moment reflects how we live in the larger context! In this passage in the Bible, Jesus Christ explains that the principles that govern our behavior apply both at small and large scales. We use the same source of faith for the small things as the large. Likewise, if we make justifications for sins because we consider them to be small and insignificant, we may be prone to make justifications for all other sins too. The little things matter because they are part of a mosaic in a much larger picture.
The least of our actions takes place in the context of God’s plan for us. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Our kindness to another in a passing moment is an expression of brotherly love that has the power to lift their heart, improve their day, and even change their life. The negative examples hold true as well. A hurtful word to another can damage trust in the span of a second and take years to repair. Therefore, our actions in the moment need to be considered in a much broader spectrum than our close-up view allows. God is working with us in our lives to help us learn and grow.
When considering the details of our lives in the moment, what should the scope of our perspective be? How far should we zoom out to properly see the setting of our momentary actions? It is no exaggeration to say that we need to view our moments in the context of the plan of God that He has for the entirety of creation. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18-19).
Knowing that everything we experience in the moment is part of God’s master plan ought to give us great comfort. Our struggle, joy, boredom, and excitement take place in the context of something big. We may get wrapped up in the magnified concern of the moment, but those things only matter in their purpose to help us to grow into the children that God is helping us to become.