You know how in the movies they say that a girl always knows when a guy likes her. It’s false. Okay, I can really only speak for myself but personally I am oblivious to when guys like me. I can see it when a guy likes a different girl but when it’s me I haven’t got a clue. It’s rather unfortunate but I feel like this is the case for most girls. We know when a guy likes one of our friends; we can see it from a mile away. But when it’s us, we are blissfully unaware. Maybe it’s because we’re in it, it’s too close for us to get proper perspective, you know? And I feel like that's the case in a lot of situations in life. You don't have a clue what's going on because you are just too involved in it to get the big picture.
Retrospect is a funny thing isn’t it? The dictionary defines it as a review, survey, or contemplation of things in the past; to look back on or contemplate things in the past. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, yet so often it’s used in a phrase like “in retrospect I would have…”. But I don’t think that necessarily means you regret what happened or that you want to change it; it simply means that you have learned something between now and then. You have a different way of looking at things, and if you were faced with the same situation again you might do it differently.
For me, things make much more sense in retrospect. When I have more information to complete the picture. The time that passes gives you the distance you need to see the full picture in perspective. Sure, sometimes I wish I could have seen those things in the moment but more often than not it’s for the best that I didn’t. Things find a way of working themselves out just as they should be.
There is a verse in Romans that says that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (8:28). Thank God for that. God gives me the pieces of the puzzle that I need in the moment, but He sees the whole picture. Not just of a given situation, not just of my life, but of all of eternity and He knows what needs to happen. Sometimes I wish God would give me more of the puzzle, or the lid so that I could see what I’m trying to piece together, but to be honest, I like the surprises of not knowing. And as time passes and I grow closer to God I see more and more of the picture and how the pieces fit together. It’ll all come together in the end.
