Focus

I was looking at purchasing a new Bible recently and was faced with a dilemma. It wasn’t the varied binding options or even picking a translation that gave me difficulty. The predicament that I found myself in was much more shallow. My choice was this: large print or a trip to the optometrist.

I already wear glasses but it is apparent that something needs to change. It is all about the lenses. It is all about what I look through to give me clear vision, even a true perspective.

When the words on the page are no longer sharp…when it becomes a strain to read words on the computer screen, it is time to readjust…to make the changes necessary to bring things back into proper focus.

There are times when it seems that more than the words on the page are out of focus. Life happens. People to see, things to do, places to go…there are diagnosis that bring fear…losses that break hearts…woundings deep and sharp…

Life and all that it brings can cause a loss of focus… a loss of perspective…

So, what really matters? What is the standard?

“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Is.48:17)

…who teaches you what is best for you…who directs you in the way you should go…

Am I teachable in this? Am I willing, to set aside my own perspective…my own way of viewing those around me and even myself…and will I put all that I am …and all that I think I see…completely into the hands of the One who directs the way…Do I dare?

If this were only a matter of authority…of submission…if there was some hint of tyranny…perhaps I would be justified in feeling some apprehension…some lack of trust…but, this One…this One who directs and teaches is also Redeemer…

This One knows the beginning and the end…this One speaks and the winds obey…this One has lavished his love on us and made us his children…

When I forget that or when I push that love aside, my vision becomes distorted. I need that lens…the lens that clearly shows me that God so loved me… the lens that shows me that because He loves me, I can love Him…and shows me that because of that love, I can love others…

How would using that lens…the one that clears your vision to see that God, the Redeemer, the Holy One, loves you, indeed loves all…how would that change your vision…your perspective…your focus?

Ruth