The Forest and the Trees by David Jeremiah

The Forest and the Trees Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty … said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’” Genesis 48:3-4 “He couldn’t see the forest for the trees” suggests that getting too close to a problem blinds one to the bigger picture. It means to step back and refocus your perspective.

Recommended Reading: Genesis 35:1-5

What were the “trees” in Jacob’s life that were so distracting that they could have taken his focus off God’s plan for his life? The sins of his son, Judah; the supposed death of his beloved son, Joseph; a famine in Canaan that threatened to destroy the seventy-plus members of his household; the anxiety of sending ten of his sons to Egypt in search of food; the possibility of losing his youngest son, Benjamin, as collateral for food; moving his household to a new land and culture—and those are just the ones we know about. But Jacob kept his eye on the prize: God’s promise to create a nation through Abraham, Isaac, and now, him. Don’t let the “trees” you encounter today take your eyes off of God’s “forest”—His everlasting plan for your life. He that fears not the future may enjoy the present. Thomas Fuller