When We Cannot See the Whole Picture

The Curious Pilgrim — Daily Office Reflection
Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Psalm 97 | 2 Samuel 14:1–20 | Acts 21:1–14 | Mark 10:1–16

Sometimes I read the Daily Office lessons and wonder, What in the world do these passages have to do with one another?

Today is one of those days.

Psalm 97 declares that the Lord is Most High over all the earth and that the heavens proclaim God’s righteousness.

Then we move to the complicated family of David.

Joab hires a wise woman from Tekoa to speak to David about the situation involving his son Absalom. Absalom has killed his brother Amnon after Amnon raped their sister Tamar. Absalom has fled, David is grieving, and the family remains broken.

Then we find Paul traveling toward Jerusalem. His friends warn him not to go because imprisonment awaits him.

Next, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a question about divorce.

And finally, people start bringing children to Jesus.

What holds all of this together?

Perhaps it is this:

We don’t always see the whole picture.

Psalm 97 begins by giving us the largest possible perspective:

“The LORD is King.”

Before we encounter David’s broken family, Paul’s uncertain future, the Pharisees’ questions, or the children coming to Jesus, we are reminded that God is Lord over all the earth.

God’s righteousness and justice remain the foundation beneath everything else.

Then we encounter David.

David is grieving and separated from Absalom. Joab realizes something needs to change, so he sends a wise woman from Tekoa to tell David a story.

David listens to her story and makes a judgment about the situation she describes.

Then she turns the story back toward him.

Suddenly David is being asked to look at his own situation differently.

Sometimes we need another person to help us see what we cannot see for ourselves.

That requires humility.

Then we meet Paul.

Paul is traveling toward Jerusalem, and people who love him are telling him not to go.

They see danger.

Paul sees calling.

They aren’t wrong to be concerned. They love Paul. They don’t want to see him suffer.

Paul knows imprisonment may await him.

But he continues toward Jerusalem.

Sometimes following God does not mean that the road ahead will be easy.

Sometimes faith means walking forward even when we cannot see what lies around the next bend.

Then the Pharisees approach Jesus with a question:

Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

But they aren’t simply curious.

They are testing Jesus.

They want an answer they can use.

Jesus refuses to remain trapped inside their argument. He moves the conversation toward God’s intention for human relationships.

And then Mark gives us one of the most beautiful scenes in the Gospel.

People bring children to Jesus.

The disciples try to stop them.

Perhaps they think Jesus has more important things to do.

Jesus disagrees.

“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them.”

Then Jesus says that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

Perhaps that is where today’s readings finally come together.

The wise woman helps David see something he cannot see.

Paul sees beyond the danger toward his calling.

Jesus challenges people who think they already have all the answers.

And then a child simply comes to Jesus.

Maybe that child understands something that takes the rest of us a lifetime to learn.

We don’t have to understand everything before we trust God.

We don’t have to know where every road will lead.

We don’t have to have every theological question neatly answered.

We don’t even have to see the whole picture.

Sometimes faith means coming to God with the openness of a child.

Curious.

Trusting.

Willing to learn.

Open to being surprised.

Perhaps that is especially important for those of us who call ourselves pilgrims.

A pilgrim doesn’t see the entire road.

We see the next step.

We walk.

We listen.

We learn.

And sometimes someone along the road helps us see something we could not see by ourselves.

Above all of our questions stands the declaration with which today’s readings began:

The Lord is King.

The heavens declare God’s righteousness.

David is still learning.

Paul is still traveling.

The Pharisees are still questioning.

The children are still coming.

And God is still God.

So here is the question I am carrying with me today:

Can I trust God when I cannot see the whole picture?

Perhaps faith is not having all the answers.

Perhaps faith is opening our hands like a child and trusting the One who does.