I realize as a photographer there are still a lot of things I need
to learn about my camera. But whether you know a lot about cameras or not one
thing is fairly obvious to all…A camera takes better pictures when it’s in
focus. Focus: the center of attention or interest.
If the focus is off when taking a picture you can miss some amazing opportunities and end up with a blurry, unsatisfactory result. Much in the same way of our life I think.
If the focus is off when taking a picture you can miss some amazing opportunities and end up with a blurry, unsatisfactory result. Much in the same way of our life I think.
I’ll start by asking this.Where is your focus right now? Is it on
what you see going on around you or is it on God? Many of us would be quick to say "of course it’s on God!" As
Christians, it's the right answer, the expected answer, isn't it?
”I go to church.”
“I read my bible.”
“I pray.”
Those are all great things. God wants that from us. Now let me ask you this. “Do you trust God?” Before you answer I want you to think about this…
What do you do when something doesn’t go your way? When circumstances change, when pain comes, when a situation disappoints. Do you get upset? Angry? Afraid? Confused? Bitter? Do you ask God “why is this happening?”… and then get frustrated when you don’t get an answer…
It’s so easy for our emotions to take precedence when tribulations happen. Those are our natural human responses. I know because I’ve been there. I know because at times, I’m still there. Even as a Christian I have to admit my focus hasn’t always been on God, not in the way it should be. Even when I was convinced it was. It took me getting sick to realize that. My focus had been on my comfort & then on my circumstances.
All of the emotions I listed above, I felt those. The central message of the sermon at our church Sunday was it’s not about me. Incredible message & reminder. God has definitely showed me that through the pain I’ve endured & continue to experience every day. I can choose to focus on the pain (which some days is easy to) or I can choose to focus on how good God is in it, what He can do through it. How what he’s done for me through Jesus can never be taken away. And in that I can have JOY… always. It’s been the recurring theme Jeremy & I feel God has been trying to teach us- To not focus on our circumstances but on the unchanging character of God-On what He’s trying to work on our character through it. That our joy should come from who God is not on the things around us. Things that can be taken away.
Now here’s where the focus comes in. If my focus had been on God’s character and not myself or my circumstances I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did when the tragedy of sickness struck.
Jeremiah dealt with this. Much like me, he was quick to focus on his pain when it came. “The thought of my pain and my homelessness is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.” Lamentations 3:19-20. Jeremiah let the devastation around him consume his thoughts and it made him bitter and depressed. How many of us have done that? I’d have to raise my hand and say, guilty. You see, it’s easy to say we’re focusing on God when everything is going ‘good’. When we’re not facing challenges, when we're comfortable. God is good, God is just. God is fair, right? But what about when that comfort is taken away? What about when the scenery changes & isn’t so pretty anymore? When the rolling green hills turn into the city dump!
Just like in photography, it’s easier to focus on something when it’s constant, unvarying. But what about when it moves, when it changes? That’s life isn’t it? Always changing, not just handing us lemons but pelting us in the back with them! We just have to learn to refocus our “center of attention.”
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for 5 minutes or 50 years, whether you have the small faith of the disciples in the storm or the big faith of Noah in building the Ark…at some point in our lives we all lose focus. When holding a camera you can’t be moving your hands all around or looking around at everything else going on around you while taking a photo or you will lose your point of focus. You have to stay steady and set your focus to get a clear picture.
”I go to church.”
“I read my bible.”
“I pray.”
Those are all great things. God wants that from us. Now let me ask you this. “Do you trust God?” Before you answer I want you to think about this…
What do you do when something doesn’t go your way? When circumstances change, when pain comes, when a situation disappoints. Do you get upset? Angry? Afraid? Confused? Bitter? Do you ask God “why is this happening?”… and then get frustrated when you don’t get an answer…
It’s so easy for our emotions to take precedence when tribulations happen. Those are our natural human responses. I know because I’ve been there. I know because at times, I’m still there. Even as a Christian I have to admit my focus hasn’t always been on God, not in the way it should be. Even when I was convinced it was. It took me getting sick to realize that. My focus had been on my comfort & then on my circumstances.
All of the emotions I listed above, I felt those. The central message of the sermon at our church Sunday was it’s not about me. Incredible message & reminder. God has definitely showed me that through the pain I’ve endured & continue to experience every day. I can choose to focus on the pain (which some days is easy to) or I can choose to focus on how good God is in it, what He can do through it. How what he’s done for me through Jesus can never be taken away. And in that I can have JOY… always. It’s been the recurring theme Jeremy & I feel God has been trying to teach us- To not focus on our circumstances but on the unchanging character of God-On what He’s trying to work on our character through it. That our joy should come from who God is not on the things around us. Things that can be taken away.
Now here’s where the focus comes in. If my focus had been on God’s character and not myself or my circumstances I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did when the tragedy of sickness struck.
Jeremiah dealt with this. Much like me, he was quick to focus on his pain when it came. “The thought of my pain and my homelessness is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.” Lamentations 3:19-20. Jeremiah let the devastation around him consume his thoughts and it made him bitter and depressed. How many of us have done that? I’d have to raise my hand and say, guilty. You see, it’s easy to say we’re focusing on God when everything is going ‘good’. When we’re not facing challenges, when we're comfortable. God is good, God is just. God is fair, right? But what about when that comfort is taken away? What about when the scenery changes & isn’t so pretty anymore? When the rolling green hills turn into the city dump!
Just like in photography, it’s easier to focus on something when it’s constant, unvarying. But what about when it moves, when it changes? That’s life isn’t it? Always changing, not just handing us lemons but pelting us in the back with them! We just have to learn to refocus our “center of attention.”
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for 5 minutes or 50 years, whether you have the small faith of the disciples in the storm or the big faith of Noah in building the Ark…at some point in our lives we all lose focus. When holding a camera you can’t be moving your hands all around or looking around at everything else going on around you while taking a photo or you will lose your point of focus. You have to stay steady and set your focus to get a clear picture.
If our eyes are on our circumstances, if we’re always
looking at what’s going on around us then when something challenging happens,
when trials come crashing down on us, it will leave our faith completely shaken.
Meaning it wasn’t in God at all, it was in our circumstances. Ouch! When I came
to that realization it was like a Chuck Norris spin kick to the face. When
we’re not standing steady in faith, God-centered faith, it leaves the door wide
open for our emotions to run ramped and we start focusing on the pain, the
disappointment, the whys, and the if onlys."So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. “Corinthians 4:18
How often is our trust based on the "what" rather than the "who?" We tend to focus on the situation instead of the God who controls it .We start focusing on our grief and don’t understand why a loving Heavenly Father would allow that to happen in our lives. I don’t say this to judge or attempt to evoke remorse; I say this because I’VE BEEN THERE. Being a Christian doesn’t mean I’m a perfect person (far from it), it simply means that through grace I’m saved by the one who is. I’m human, I’m weak. Without Jesus, my circumstances would win…every time.
We often lose sight of the fact that just because our circumstances may have changed doesn’t mean God did. He didn’t. God’s character NEVER changes… EVER. He’s always LOVE, always JUST, always WISE, always HOLY, always SOVEIRGN, always CAPABLE, always FAITHFUL. And always BIGGER than anything we’re facing. If we could focus on that instead of ourselves no matter what we’re going through how much more peaceful and joyful would our lives be?
When hard times hit we have to remember that God didn’t change! Our view of Him did. Our focus did. It became fixed on how we’re feeling about the situation (what it looks like through our lens) instead of on the unchanging character of God. God doesn't see our circumstances the way we do. Thankelujah for that! If you want to change your life to be God-centered, you have to change your thinking. It’s not easy but with God it is possible. I know because it's what God is doing for me through my illness. It's what Jeremiah did. He changed his focus in the situation.“Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The Lord is all I have, so in him I put my hope.”Lamentations 3:21-24
We have to learn to build our trust on who God is, not on what is taking place at any time in our lives. When we know who God is, I mean really know, then the trials that come won’t seem so big, so devastating. You’ll trust that no matter what happens He has your best interests at heart. Because He does.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28. This
has been one of my favorite verses for a long time but I realized that
believing those words and trusting them are two different things. The bible can
be taken at face value because it is truth. Plain and simple. It’s
our choice to believe it or not and then actually trust it when it matters
most. Trust is based on character, not circumstances.
Much like my camera, every time I look through the lens, I have to refocus on the “center” of the picture I want to take. I can’t just set the focus once, and expect it to take clear pictures from then on. Trials are going to come that satan will try to use to knock us off kilter and shift our focus. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 It's important that when trials come we fill up our lens with the right thing, Jesus. Only He can get us through them because he has already overcome them! Don’t you see? Through Christ the victory is already ours! That is UHHHmazing news!We just have to accept it, believe it, and live it! We can’t control the trials that come, but with God’s help we can control our attitude through them.One thing I've learned is that there isn't a trial too big or too small that God can't use for good and be glorified through!
Much like my camera, every time I look through the lens, I have to refocus on the “center” of the picture I want to take. I can’t just set the focus once, and expect it to take clear pictures from then on. Trials are going to come that satan will try to use to knock us off kilter and shift our focus. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 It's important that when trials come we fill up our lens with the right thing, Jesus. Only He can get us through them because he has already overcome them! Don’t you see? Through Christ the victory is already ours! That is UHHHmazing news!We just have to accept it, believe it, and live it! We can’t control the trials that come, but with God’s help we can control our attitude through them.One thing I've learned is that there isn't a trial too big or too small that God can't use for good and be glorified through!
"Be very glad — for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world” 1 Peter 4:12–13.
Like a camera we can develop from the negatives. We can set our
focus on the right thing to get the best picture (life) possible. Just like
with my camera I can choose how much light I allow in. When we set our
focus completely on God the shots may not always be easy but the view will
always be Beautiful.
“You will keep in perfect
peace those whose minds [both its inclination and its
character] are steadfast [staying on you], because they trust in
you.”Isaiah 26:3
No comments:
Post a Comment