Anyone that knows me, knows that I love to take pictures. While walking down the street, sitting in a home, playing with children or conversing with adults...there are moments that I have to pause to snap a photo because something beautiful caught my eye. An image can tell a story so vividly.
We live in a day and age where just about everyone has a smartphone and those phones boast of their high megapixel cameras. However, those of us who are a little older have experience with "vintage" cameras like a canon or nikon with interchangeable lenses. (Why are people calling things that we used as teens and young adults VINTAGE?!)
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For those who maybe don't have much experience with cameras of this kind, there are different lenses that you can mount onto the body of the camera that give different perspectives and are good for different types of photography.
- There are macro lenses, which capture extremely minute details, allowing you to snap an extreme close-up. (For example, if you were to focus on a strawberry, ALL you would see would be the color red and the seeds on the fruit.)
- There are zoom lenses which help you to see details far-off. (This is the lens I use in a balcony, photographing subjects on a stage in a theatre.)
- There are portrait lenses which are good at capturing flattering photos of a nearby subject.
- Then there are landscape lenses which allow you to capture a wide image, seeing a wide variety of subjects in just one shot.
As I sat here a few moments ago, the Holy Spirit brought this reflection into my heart. Far too many of us have the wrong lens mounted on our life's camera.
Maybe we have the macro-lens in place. All we can see is what is going on right now in this moment. We are only able to see, (and way too closely), our current issue, sickness, problem, hurt, need, desire or frustration. Because of our lens, as we gaze through the viewfinder, no matter how much we strain our eye to the left or to the right, ALL we can see is that tiny piece of our reality and it can overwhelm us and make us feel as if we were suffocating. "I can't escape this! I can't find a way out. It's all I think about. I can't sleep."
What about a zoom lens? Perhaps we have a zoom lens on and we can't see anything near us, none of what is happening in the present...we are only focused on what WILL be, tomorrow. A year from now. A decade from now. Are we missing the miracle of the moment because we have the wrong lens mounted on our camera? There are people around us and things happening around us that need our attention TODAY and we can miss it all if we are only focused on what WILL happen one day.
A portrait lens seems like it would be a good option. To be focused on someone else that is in your "today," in the here and now. Right? Perhaps. The only issue is that many times that portrait lens becomes so focused on one subject that others are neglected. People that God put around us that need our attention, our love, our care or our testimony. Only so many people can fit in a portrait lens' view. God didn't create us to be selective or exclusionary. He chose us to be His hands and feet. His mouthpiece. The mission is to bring Hope to the ones that He has strategically placed around us. If I focus on just my friend group or just the ones I feel comfortable around, I'm missing the purpose for which I'm alive.
Ahhh...the landscape lens. This is our best lens for fulfilling our purpose. With the landscape lens, I can gaze through my camera and analyze everything that's going on in a pretty wide view-scape. I can see people, trees, houses. I can see situations, processes, joys and triumphs. I can see how God is working in the lives of the people around me as well as how He is working in my life. While I'm waiting for the trial in my life to be resolved, I don't lose hope because I can simultaneously see how He has healed my friend or freed a neighbor from addiction or how He provided what that family needed. This helps me to keep my God-view healthy and that, in turn, affects how I continually view my life and situation and helps me to effectively encourage others and build them up in their times of need.
Which lens do you have mounted on your camera? Would you ask the Lord to reveal it to you? And if you don't have the landscape lens on, would you ask Him to help you to have the courage to change lenses? Ask Him to help you to change perspective so that you are focused on all that He wants you to see, do, hear and say.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to miss any of the miracles of this moment, just because I grabbed the wrong lens.
