The Paper and the Spot / The Wall and the Mouse Hole

November 28, 2010

God has given us specific information on how to handle the difficulties of life. All believers are surrounded by persons, places, events, situations and problems. As we live and move among people and problems, God has told us what we should be doing. In 1 Timothy 2:1 we learn that Supplications____, Prayers___, Intercessions__ and giving of thanks should be made for all men:

(1Ti 2:1) I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

  • SUPPLICATIONS--specific prayer for a specific need. I come to the Lord realizing my NEED and my INSUFFICIENCY. My own strength and my own wisdom and my own resources are not enough. I need the Lord Jesus. He is sufficient for every situation.
  • PRAYERS--coming to God in prayer realizing WHO HE IS. It involves a God-consciousness and a God-dependence. It involves being aware of God's Person and Presence and giving Him the reverence and respect that He demands. The believer is to always be God-conscious, not leaving God out of his thinking.
  • INTERCESSIONS--approaching God with boldness and confidence. The believer can barge into God's holy presence and meet with God in a very bold and confident way, without fear. In the middle of the problems and pressures of life, I can meet with an all-wise and loving God. "For this (whatever problem or difficulty I am facing) I have Jesus, and for this Jesus has me."

Instead of coming to God with our problem, we often get caught up with the problem and caught up in the problem. Just as with a tornado, we allow the problem to suck us up into itself and we are overwhelmed by it. We get overly and excessively concerned about someone (parent, boyfriend, girlfriend, teacher), about some place (home, work, school) or about something (a school exam, a problem at home, an illness, the loss of a friend, etc.). All of our efforts and energies are concentrated and focused on that one problem to the neglect of the whole situation.

Take a blank piece of white paper and on it put one small spot of ink:

The spot is quite easy to see on the white background. It stands right out. If you were to hold it up to someone and say, "What do you see?", he would probably say, "I see an ink spot!" But the spot is only one small part of that sheet of paper. There is much more than just a spot. The problem is that we tend to see only the spot and nothing else, and the little spot becomes bigger and bigger to us.

Is there a problem in your home with your family? How many homes and families are there in the world? When we begin to see the whole picture, then our little problem is only a very tiny speck!

The problem is that I can so easily get all wrapped up with ME, MYSELF and I, and I forget that there is something more than ME, MYSELF and I. The world is more than just ME! It is BIG and IMMENSE and your part of the whole is but a tiny little microscopic speck! Instead of looking at only one piece of the puzzle, we must learn to look at the WHOLE PICTURE, which is made up of thousands of pieces.

For example, you may receive a phone call which to you may seem like the most important event in the world! This phone call totally occupies your mind so that there is no room for anything else. It is all you think of and you lose your proper perspective. The whole world becomes ONE BIG PHONE CALL! If someone were to ask, "What's going on today in the world?" you would immediately cry out, "I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL!" A very minor event (compared to the whole) has now become a very major event, and that phone call becomes the only thing you see. We do this all the time with many different things.

Another way to look at this is to think of a little mouse hole at the base of a wall:

A person becomes overly concerned and worried about that one hole, and soon that is the only part of the wall he sees! The longer he looks and lingers (continues to look) the larger the hole becomes, and that little mouse becomes BIGGER and BIGGER. He loses his perspective and the closer he gets to the mouse, the bigger the mouse becomes (A GIANT RODENT!). Also, as his eyeball gets closer to the hole, soon all he sees is the hole and the "giant" mouse. He has lost his view of the whole, and the problem has taken on giant dimensions.

What should I do, now that I face a giant mouse? Should I try to fight it? Should I fall before it in fear? Should I draw back from the mouse and take flight (run away from my problem)? When I draw back and withdraw, then . . .

I lose my confidence in God. My problem has become very big and my God has become very small.

I lose the confession of my lips. I can no longer say, "For this I have Jesus!" It is not on my lips and it is not in my heart. All I can say is, "My problem has me!"

I lose my peace and joy. Instead I worry and fear.

My physical health could suffer because even my physical system may be affected by how I handle or fail to handle my problems.

God meant us to face reality and solve problems. The spot on the paper and the mouse hole on the wall (and the mouse in the wall) are very real and must be faced. But the danger comes when we get too close to the problem and lose our perspective and fail to see the whole picture. My whole life is not one phone call, one teacher, one test, one twenty dollar bill, one weekend, etc. My situation, problem, event or crisis is only one tiny part of my life.

Often an event passes in time but not in mind. We cannot or will not stop thinking about it, and thus we are unprepared for the next moment of time. A boy buried his dead cat and then every day he dug it up to see how it was doing! We often do the same thing with yesterday's events and problems.

The Bible gives us various examples of people who became wrongly focused on one thing:

1) See 1 Kings 21:1-13. What piece of property was King Ahab focused upon? _A vineyard___

As king, he had so many possessions and privileges. Was it right for him to covet this one piece of land? _No__ He lost sight of everything else he possessed, and became very Sad___ (verse 5) because of this property which was all he could think about. Did his wicked wife come up with a plan? _Yes_ What wicked deed was done in order to solve the problem (verses 10,13)? _lying and Murder______

1Ki 21:1-13 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. (2) And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. (3) And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. (4) And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. (5) But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? (6) And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. (7) And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. (8) So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. (9) And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: (10) And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. (11) And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. (12) They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. (13) And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

2) See 2 Samuel 12:1-6. Consider the rich man in Nathan's story. Did this man own plenty of sheep and lambs? _Yes__ When a need arose to provide meat for a guest, whose lamb did he focus upon? _The poor mans__ In what selfish way did he provide for his guest? __Took from somebody with less than himself___

2Sa 12:1-6 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. (2) The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: (3) But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. (4) And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. (5) And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: (6) And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

3) See Genesis 25:27-34. After Esau came back from the field, what was his main focus? __Food______

What did he want more than anything else? __Pottage / food______

Can something seem to be very important at the time, but later we learn that it was not very important at all?

Gen 25:27-34 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. (28) And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. (29) And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: (30) And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. (31) And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. (32) And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? (33) And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. (34) Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

What is ONE THING that should be our main focus?

See Psalm 27:4 ___The Lord______

(Psa 27:1) A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

See Philippians 3:13 __Looking towards the future, not dwelling on the past______

(Php 3:13) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

The Solution:

I must not lose sight of God's overall purpose and program (His overall work and working). Do not lose your overall perspective. Do not let the spot be everything. As much as possible try to see the whole wall, not just the mouse hole and the mouse. Try to see the whole picture, not just one piece of the puzzle, because by itself the one piece will not make any sense. See the event as only one event among million of events. See the person as only one person among millions of persons. See the place as only one place among millions of places. Look up in the sky, look out across the field and realize that what God is doing is vastly bigger than YOU! It involves a whole world and a whole universe and a whole eternity. Stay in tune and in harmony with God and with what He is doing.

I must not lose sight of God's dealing with my own heart. The God who is concerned about a whole world and a whole universe and a whole eternity is also concerned about me in a very personal way (see Matthew 10:29-31)! The God who has all the pieces of the puzzle also has my piece. God has a reason for the spot, for the person, for the problem and for the event.

Mat 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. (30) But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (31) Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

I must not lose sight of God's dealing with other people through me. My little piece of the puzzle touches several other pieces. As I interact with people here and there, God wants to deal with others through me.

Consider Matthew 8:23-27. What does man want more, the calming of the sea, or the calming of the heart? _Calming of the sea______We often want God to fix the problems on the outside but not the problems on the inside. I want God to change my teacher or my friend, but not me! I want God to fix the job and the problem, but not my own heart! I want God to take care of everything on the outside so that I (with troubled waters on the inside) may be able to live with a calm sea but with a troubled heart. Notice Matthew 8:24. Was there a calm sea? __No___ Was there a troubled heart? _No__

Mat 8:23-27 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. (24) And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. (25) And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. (26) And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. (27) But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Consider also Luke 10:38-42. Martha had a spot and a mouse hole. All she could see was that one spot! The dinner meal was so important! If this meal did not come out right, all would be lost! Jesus said to her (in essence), "No Martha, there is something far more important than dinner. This meal is not that important. I AM IMPORTANT! Be like Mary who has understood what the most important thing really is. Be like Mary who has her eyes off the spot and her ears open to Me!"

Luk 10:38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. (39) And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. (40) But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. (41) And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: (42) But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

MY BIG GOD IS QUITE ABLE TO TAKECARE OF THAT LITTLE MOUSE!

Is God bigger than any problem you have?