Focus

2 Corinthians 4:13-18  

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 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

A picture of light in darkness

This week has been a huge test of focus for me. A lot of activities, news, burdens, distractions have come my way. I have had something scheduled every day to do. In the process I have lost sight of the most important time of my day. Time in the word! I am currently a week behind on my readings in the bible. Instead of rushing through about 40 chapters to catch up, I have decided to push back my deadline and start over today. 

How easy it is to loose focus on the unseen, when the things that are burdening us or taking our time are right in front of us pleading for attention. Now, these things aren't all bad or sinful. Spending time with friends before I leave the country for a year. Taking in moments with family that I will have to cherish and cling to in times of desperate homesickness. However, if I allow those things to distract from the unseen Christ who is waiting patiently for my time, then my picture and view becomes out of focus. 

In photography I have learned that sometimes it is best to switch off the auto focus and manually set your focus. So many times I become frustrated because the camera wants to focus on whatever is in the background instead of the subject I want to capture. It becomes confused with everything going on. Manual focus allows me to tell the camera where to focus, usually on the things unseen by the camera. 

For example, the picture above. I wanted to have the lights blur so that you don't see the source of the light. It is just a glowing orb in the midst of a great darkness. In order to do this I had to switch off the auto focus and manually set the focus of my camera. 

We need to be conscious of where our focus is. Is it on the things that are seen, right in front of us, or the things that are unseen that desperately need our attention!