The Black Dot

THE BLACK DOT: There was a woman’s Bible teacher named Verlin that was known for the use of the following illustration in her ladies’ Bible class. She would take a white cardboard and place a small black dot in the middle of the board.

            “What do you see?” she would ask.

            “A black spot,” was the general answer without hesitation.

            She would then ask, “What else do you see?” And many strain but could not find anything else to see.

            “You see only the spot,” she replied, which some folks thought might represent the troubles of life. Then she would point out that they had overlooked the massive white space that made up the rest of the board. She would remind them that many of us overlook the obvious or forget the many blessings we have by focusing on the minor.

            The same thing can happen in our lives when we get so engrossed in our problems, even the small ones, and forget to count our blessings – one by one. We are not able to see the forest for the trees.

Psalm 100

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
² Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.