FOCUS THROUGH GOD'S LENS

My wife, Amanda, enjoys photography. It all started when our daughter Lilly was born. We did not have enough money to take Lilly to get her photos taken all the time, so my wife asked for a camera for Christmas. Then she watched YouTube videos to help her learn the basics of photography, followed by signing up for a 6 week course on photography taught by a local photographer. She worked hard to teach herself how to take pictures so we could capture more moments with our daughter. 

I know I am biased, but I think Amanda does an incredible job taking photos! I am so thankful for the priceless pictures she has captured of our family over the years. 

What I also appreciate about her photography hobby is the insights she gains from her experience. Recently, Amanda shared this post on her Facebook page:  

Photography is an enjoyable hobby for me, but it is also frustrating! There’s nothing more aggravating than taking a picture not in focus. For example, in the photo below, I was trying to focus on the beautiful bud, but the focus fell behind it.  

It’s frustrating when the thing you want to be in focus just isn’t. What your eyes are focused on is blurry and the picture just does not make sense. As a result, you think the pic is ruined. 

Sounds a lot like life... right?! 

But friends, the best focus comes from the blurriness. God wants to shift our focus on more than what our blurry eyes can see and trust His focus instead. It’s not easy, but in reflecting on this photo, a photo I would have typically deleted immediately, later, I was able to see the focus fell on two of my favorites in our back yard....Chet and Viola’s windmill, and Lilly’s trees in her “Hundred Acre Woods” (Winnie the Pooh). 

Don’t let your frustration with blurriness cause you to delete the picture. Pause. You may have a different focus through God’s lens.

I appreciated her insight so much! Far too often the blurriness of life causes us to be frustrated, to give up when we may be closer to God’s plan for our life than we ever realized before. 

The writer of Hebrews said this: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) 

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Look at life through God’s lens. You may be surprised at what you actually see.