Photography has to be one of my favorite pass times. In the winter I often go to our local conservatory to take pictures of the tropical plants. Using my telephoto lens, I am able to capture the flowers up close with amazing detail. Now I can focus my camera a couple different ways: I can leave it on auto focus and let the camera do the focusing; or I can set it on manual and focus it myself. Now there are pluses and minuses to both. Auto focus is sometimes easier because I don’t have to do anything, but it isn’t nearly as accurate. It tries to focus on the first thing it sees, which is not always the correct focus point. The camera is not perfect and thinks it is focusing on the correct subject. But when I switch it to manual focus then I am put in control of where the camera is focusing, making sure it focuses on the correct subject. The downfall is that it takes extra time.
That is a lot like the way we often focus on things in our life. We set ourselves on auto focus, focusing quickly on the first thing we see. But that isn’t always accurate; it’s not what God intends for us to focus on. God is our photographer, who knows where we should be focusing. The difference is that he cannot switch us from auto focus to manual focus, but rather we need to make the decision to allow God to manually focus our lives. It isn’t always as fast as we would like it. But in the end, it is far more accurate.
Now when I am focusing on one subject, the rest often becomes blurry due to “depth of field.” Similarly, if we allow ourselves to focus on the wrong things in life, often times the other things—the things God intends for us to focus on—become blurry. Then we loose a clear view of what God’s will is for our lives. On the other hand, when we allow God to do the focusing for us, not only are we focusing the correct things, but also the wrong things become blurry and less important to us.
So my question to you is: what’s your focus?
Read more articles by Lisa Anderson or search for articles on the same topic or others.
