Five Minute Friday: Focus

Imagine taking a walk in the woods.  Your feet shuffle through crispy leaves that have fallen from the trees, and the air is cool and crisp.  As you round a corner in the trail you hear a waterfall.  As you near the waterfall, you notice wildflowers growing near the base.  You kneel down and take a picture of this beautiful serene setting.  Everything in the photo - water, flowers, trees - is well defined.  The camera was set to auto focus.

Imagine the same scene again.  As you snap a second picture, you zoom in on a small patch of wildflowers.  The petals flash vibrant shades of yellow and magenta.  The pistil and stamen of each flower is well defined.  The waterfall and trees in the background are still visible and recognizable, but a bit blurry.  This time, the camera was set to “manual focus.”

Sometimes (more often than I’d like to admit), I think my spiritual eyes are stuck on auto focus.  I see all of my cares and concerns at once, and they all seem so well defined.  I know that the Lord is with me in the midst of it all, but sometimes I have a hard time seeing Him and just don’t know where to begin.

I know from experience though, that when I switch to “manual” and focus on Him, the problems seem to blur into the background, and He provides clarity and direction, one step at a time.