Missing the Forest for the Trees
“Honey, you’re missing the forest for the trees.”
I will never forget the look on my daughter’s face the first time I spoke these words to her. Inside her deep brown eyes, I could see her mind lingering over each word, trying to piece together my meaning, with little success. Finally, after a few minutes, she looked at me, clearly exasperated.
“But, Mom, the forest IS the trees.”
She was right, of course. The forest is made up of trees. If you’re any kind of a fan of hiking or being in nature, you will agree that seeing trees is a big part of being in the forest. However, as I tried to explain to my daughter, this expression is much deeper than its literal meaning. “Missing the forest for the trees” is a colloquialism to describe being so consumed by the details, procedures, or routine of something that you miss the entirety of the object or situation as a whole.
It still didn’t make any sense to her.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not a real experience, especially when it comes to faith.
In Mark 6, we see Jesus, having already begun His earthly ministry, return to his hometown. Picking up in verse 2, we read that “when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. ‘Where did this man get these things?’ they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.” (verses 2-3)
Despite everything Jesus was showing them through His miracles and His teaching, despite all the ways Jesus was revealing to them WHO HE WAS, the people of His hometown found it difficult to believe Him.
Why?
Because they already knew Him.
They’d seen Him grow up. They knew His mother, His brothers, His sisters, His family. He was the carpenter’s son.
He was nobody.
Just as we often can’t see the forest for the trees, the people in Jesus’s hometown couldn’t see Jesus for themselves and their own knowledge. So blinded were they by what they already knew, they found it impossible to open their hearts–and their minds–to Truth standing right in their midst.
And, while it’s easy to scoff and judge these first century non-believers, I think often times we in the twenty-first century can be just as guilty.
How often have we rejected an activity or attribute of God simply because it doesn’t fit into the narrow window of who we think God is (or, even worse, who we want Him to be?) How often have our own prejudices, biases, stubbornness, or–dare I say it–our religion gotten in the way of seeing Jesus for who He actually is?
Maya Angelou once said, “When people show you who they really are, believe them.” And, if that’s true for people, how much more so for God Himself?
All through the pages of Scripture, God has revealed Himself to His creation. We have seen His goodness, His love, His mercy, His kindness…but we’ve also seen His justice, His wrath, and His judgment. All of these exist within Our God without contradiction. So why are we so quick to dismiss one or more of these characteristics when they don’t line up with what we think God should do/not do or be?
We don’t want to miss the forest through the trees….but we most certainly don’t want to miss Jesus through our own misconceptions. Especially when we read on in Mark 6 and see the repercussions.
“Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:4-6)
The people of Jesus’s hometown missed out on His miracles all because they found it impossible to believe in Him.
Some people misconstrue this verse to mean that our faith determines God’s abilities, but this is not the case. The Bible recounts many instances of Jesus healing those with little faith (see Mark 3:1–6; 4:35–41; 6:35–44 for some examples). One possibility is that Jesus simply does no mighty works in Nazareth because no one asks Him. Perhaps only a few injured and sick show up, the rest staying home in their unbelief, until the crowd drives Him out of town and tries to throw Him off a cliff (see Luke’s account of this episode in Luke 4). Another explanation is that Jesus “could not” do many mighty works because it would be spiritually moot. Miracles may pique the curiosity of seeking people, but when faced with the unexplainable, a hardened heart will make up whatever excuse is necessary to avoid submission. According to bibleref.com, “A prophet is identified by the God-powered miracles he performs. If a person has already rejected the prophet, he will reject the miracle, thus becoming even more resistant to the message. This cycle can push people further away from God instead of drawing them near. Since Jesus’ intent is to promote faith through His miracles, He “cannot”—meaning He chooses not to—perform them in Nazareth.”
Whatever the case, it’s a sobering thought. I don’t ever want to miss God, but I certainly don’t ever want Him not to perform a miracle simply because my heart is too hard for it.
Friends, let’s pray for eyes to always see Jesus for who He is. Let Him be amazed at our faith, rather than our lack of it. And let our hearts always be ready and willing for Him to do whatever it is He wants to do in our lives.
Let’s not miss the forest for the trees. And let’s not miss Jesus for ourselves.
