What Each Mundane and Hard Day Needs

Stuck behind a car at a green light, I couldn’t figure out why it was stopped. As I debated whether to drive around, a pickup truck in front of the car made a left turn. Then the car drove on.  

I never noticed the pickup until it turned.

Close up the smaller car had completely blocked the much-larger pickup. From a distance, it would have been easy to notice the truck in the way, but my nearness to the car had skewed my perception of the bigger picture. 

Losing Sight of the Big Picture

I find that to be a great metaphor for how I perceive things in my life: The smaller demands of each day often mask its much-larger meaning/purpose.

In other words, the bigger picture, the greater story, often gets blocked out by the details.

The bigger picture of our lives, the greater story, often gets blocked out by details of each day. Share on X

I miss what’s really happening in God’s bigger picture, because I stare hyper-focused on the minute events, circumstances, and tasks of the day.

 In my vigilance to manage what each day brings, I miss the daily sacredness of His breath on it.

I pray the heavenly, sovereign perspective found in the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10

Yet my focus tends to linger on the next verses, the more personally targeted ones:

Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:11-13

It is right to petition the Lord for daily provisions. But it’s far too easy to get caught up in looking for and at those daily provisions and miss the purpose His provisions are meant to serve. 

We get caught up in looking for our daily provisions and miss God's true purpose for them. Share on X

God is providing manna to

strengthen me to remain strong in my faith, until I am reunited with Him in glory;

offer me discernment for the path He has for me to bring Him glory;

equip me to minister the Gospel, His hope and promise of a new life, to a hurting world; 

and prepare me for an eternity with Him. 

It’s the same for you. The Lord’s manna, is not just for your personal benefit on earth, but for a divine purpose.

God’s promises are not for a comfortable life but for a life culminating in the glories of Heaven. 

God's promises are not for a comfortable life but for a life culminating in the glories of Heaven. Share on X 

In Light of Eternity

The Lord’s daily grace is to be embraced in light of eternity.

When we fail to acknowledge that, we miss the bigger purpose of our lives. Because what is the meaning of a day lived apart from the divine promise of redemption? 

So let’s not just ask God for our daily bread, but daily ask to walk in His kingdom’s purpose.

Let’s not just petition God for our sins to be forgiven, but ask to dwell in His holiness on earth. 

Let’s not just look at the Lord’s grace as a means to get through the mundane and hard, but as a promise for the future. 

For in light of eternity, our mundane and hard are nestled in the sacred.

And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 2 Peter 1:4

Reflections: What does living in light of eternity mean to you? How can you better cultivate that perspective in your life?

I’m excited to continue recording blessings this year. Since beginning over 3 years ago, I’ve counted more than 3,500 gifts in Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare! What a blessing! So here we go in 2015: #3744–3764, read my entire list by clicking here.