One winter I called my son to complain about our 12 inches of snow. We’d had so much of it that winter, and I was sick of it. My son attends college in the upper peninsula of Michigan. He listened to me and then calmly announced: “Mom, we’ve had 81 inches of snow in the last two weeks, and it’s 4 feet deep right now. They had to bring in bulldozers to clear the roads!”

Oof. Perspective, right?

There’s a famous cartoon of a man getting hit with a pebble in the head and throwing a gale-force tantrum because he feels life is so unfair. And in the background, we see Jesus holding back an avalanche, protecting him, even though he doesn’t notice. 

This is not to suggest that God CAN’T hold back the pebbles too. The point is—perspective.

It’s important to keep perspective. Yes, we may be going through storms, but we really have no idea of the storms others are facing. Or the storms that God has held at bay before they reached our doorsteps. 

We also can’t understand God’s bigger picture. We don’t see the whole puzzle like he does. We can’t understand his motives or his plans. So instead of being impatient with God or grumbling, let’s spend more time on our knees in prayer, trusting our heavenly Father who always, ALWAYS wants the best for us—even if we can’t understand.

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).