The White Space

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

Psalm 147:5

“What do you see?” my psychology professor asked as he projected a picture of a small black dot in the middle of a very big white screen. We all responded immediately: “A black dot.” I was excited, thinking, If all the questions are as simple as this one, this course is going to be easy! But then he asked again. “What do you see?”

Confused, we repeated back to him, “A black dot!” When he finally gave us the answer, it was a lesson I’ll never forget: “You were all so focused on the little black dot in the center of the screen that none of you noticed the dominant image on the screen: the large white space covering the screen top to bottom, left to right.” Suddenly it was obvious. We had chosen to focus on the black dot, so that’s what we saw.

When we choose to focus on our weaknesses or trials, that’s all we see. But God’s power is at work in the overwhelmingly large white space around us. When we focus on the vastness of God’s mighty power and amazing work on this planet, we’ll start to see His work in our lives.

Lord, I want to focus on what You are doing instead of the little dots of my life. Please give me new vision to see You at work!