I like going on trips. My husband likes buying things. This past June I went on a writers retreat and came home to a new Sony LED 46” flat panel television with a Blu-ray player.

It’s pretty amazing considering we had an old tube-in-a-box TV. Analog. How twentieth century. The Blu-ray connects to Netflix and Amazon, so movie night is literally the push of a button.

And as a bonus, the Blu-ray came with a set of Michael Jackson videos. (Hee, hee.) I’m in the midst of learning the Thriller dance, but don’t expect big things when you see me at conference.

Anyway, the first Monday morning after television purchasing, I wandered half asleep to my office for a day of writing and stopped cold.

New TV. Big screen. Modern technology. I ran for my MacBook, hooked it to the TV, and wheeled out my desk chair. Voila! The living room became my office.

And I have a 46” monitor.

One of my writer friends laughed at me. “Are your words six inches tall?”

Not quite. But I do have a bigger view of things. The screen real estate gives me options to view multiple programs. I can zoom in 200 percent and still have a whole page on the screen.

I love this bigger view.

Ever been to the top of a mountain? Climbed a fire tower? As your gaze stretches over the valley, the world becomes clearer. Smaller. Obtainable.

Most of our lives are lived in the weeds. You know, the day-to-day of work, school, kids, ministry, cooking, cleaning, yard work, laundry, you name it. Drama. No drama. Bills.

We wonder if there’s life above the weeds, up in the trees. Is there a higher perch that lets us see the end of the mundane? Is there a bend in the road?

We want a bigger view.

God’s Word gives everything we need. Even the lyrical and metaphorical books like Daniel, Song of Solomon, and Revelation give us the big beautiful view of God’s love for us, His plan for His bride, the church, and a global revival at the end of this age.

He’s not afraid to let us hook up a 46” monitor to His heart to obtain a wider, clearer look. We just have to realize His willing heart. And humbly seek Him.

A pastor-friend of mine had three dreams over three consecutive nights. In each dream, he was robbed of the treasure God had given him.

The first dream he hesitated to kill his assailant. Drawing his gun, he paused, and his enemy killed him instead.

The second night, he dreamed his assailant robbed him, but my friend was unprepared. He had to do the old pointing-finger-in-the-coat-pocket to fake a gun. In the end, his treasure was stolen because he couldn’t defend what was his.

The third night, my friend dreamed he was being robbed again. He pulled his weapon, fired without hesitation, and deposited the treasure God had given him.

In the first dream, he hesitated.

In the second dream, he was unprepared.

In the third dream, he fought for and protected what was his.

At the end of the dream series, my friend had a much bigger view of what God was doing in his life and where he was falling short.

Ah, don’t you love a treetops?

God speaks to us in many ways. By His Word. Jesus is the Word made flesh. He’s given us everything we need to live a godly life. The Lord speaks to us through wise counsel. He speaks to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He speaks through dreams. Even visions.

“He who has an ear, let Him hear.”

To be honest, I didn’t want a new TV. We don’t have cable or Dish. We use the TV only for movies. And now a computer monitor. My twentieth-century television was good enough. Until it died.

Too often we are satisfied with last year’s model of Christianity, of our immature way of hearing God. We’re okay with our decade-old place in God. We don’t mind living in last century’s spiritual insight or knowledge. We shrug and confess that we “just don’t hear God speak” to us like some people. And we’re satisfied with that confession.

Beloved, we need a new view. A bigger view. As time moves on, God is bringing the world stage to His own dramatic ending. Will we be around to see it? I don’t know, but we should live every day wanting, yearning for the latest “technology” and reward in God.

Let’s update our spiritual hunger and thirst to the latest and newest God has for us.

Hopefully, we can handle and understand wisdom in this decade we couldn’t in the last.

Are you struggling? Ask God for a bigger view. I bet He gives it to you. In fact, I know He will.

He’s willing. He’s able (Ps. 62).

Don’t be satisfied with an Atari when you could have a Wii.