Truth

The manual focus setting on my camera rarely gets used. I just don’t trust my eyes to capture a clear photo. As I have gotten a little more mature (clearing my throat saying older!) my vision just isn’t as clear as it used to be, even with corrective lenses. So that automatic focusing comes in handy. But it doesn’t push me to excellence.

Lately, I have struggled to truly focus on what really matters. Life seems to roll on at an ever-maddening pace and drags me along. Bumps and bruises and ugly gashes scar me up from being bounced around on the asphalt of life. And with each hard bounce my focus is altered. Those potholes can get really deep. My auto-focus needs an adjustment.

Shaking my head to clear thoughts doesn’t help. I have tried. Just causes my brain to rattle around leaving behind a headache.

Having a “little” snack doesn’t help. I have tried. Just adds extra weight to consume a little more of my focus.

Getting on social media doesn’t help. I have tried. A complete discombobulation of focus!

This lack of focus can cause me to doubt my sanity among many other things! I begin to doubt my worth. I begin to doubt my God-given abilities. I begin to doubt my faith. I begin to doubt those who love me. I even doubt God in the midst of deep turmoil.

Not only does it leave me bruised and beaten but it blurs the lines of truth.

So I flip the switch to manual focus. I get to choose the shot.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6 (NKJV)

Purposefully, placing the viewfinder against my right eye, standing steady and sure, elbows tucked in at my ribs, left hand supporting the weight of the camera, left fingers gently adjusting the focus ring, right eye judging the subject, right index finger on ready to capture the shot. Still. No wavering. Squeezing ever-so slightly with my right hand. One jerk could leave the shot blurred.

Even in the midst of chaos, there exists details. Sometimes you have to get real still and quiet to focus on them, but they are there. It takes practice to notice them when you are moving. That’s a lesson I need to learn!

But when the truth comes into focus, reality reminds that Jesus is just a call away. And He always answers. He brings clarity and calm in chaos. He doesn’t cause me to bounce around like a bobble-head. He never changes. He is security. There is no risk in Him. He always provides clear shots. No blurring of lines with Him. He gives focus.

It is not very often that I sit and reflect much anymore. There comes a peace when I allow myself to do so. I have become wrapped up in social media sites looking at other people’s lives and missing this time of reflection.

It is interesting to see the views people take on matters and how strong opinions can display a person’s true beliefs. Sometimes those good opinions display themselves behind such anger or sarcasm that it seems contradictory to the good the person is trying to make. I know that is a crazy sentence. Hang with me.

The current political environment is not one that I have any expertise. I know no candidate personally. I have knowledge of only what media outlets choose to display and that results in those outlets forming and shaping my opinions of candidates. The media chooses what is seen and known.

Can I trust the media? Here again, I have no expertise in the ethics and integrity of media professions. And even if I did, people fill these roles. People are human. Humans make mistakes. We are all sinners.

So what should I trust of what I see and hear? Snipets of lives cannot portray the whole truth. At some point there has to be a reconciliation of what has been seen and heard and the discernment of the individual that has been fed whatever the media wants to provide.

And how is that discernment made? How does one take everything that is being continuously blasted through televisions and websites and social media and magazines and newspapers and the gossip in the office to discern truth? I can say with certainty that it isn’t by continually listening and reading and watching those sources. There has to be a quiet reflection and seeking truth and with all the noise quiet is disrupted.

At some point the Truth has to make Himself known in the life of an individual before discernment can happen. And when it happens peace can fill the void of uncertainty that is forced upon the watchers and readers and hearers of the chaos of media. Some fake form of discernment may be attempted but without Truth it is a lie.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.””

John 8:32 NKJV

http://bible.com/114/jhn.8.32.nkjv

“My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths;”

Proverbs 2:1-15 NKJV

http://bible.com/114/pro.2.1-15.nkjv

“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

II Chronicles 7:14 NKJV

http://bible.com/114/2ch.7.14.nkjv

There is only One who can heal this land but the requirement of that happening is an earnest praying and seeking Him and turning from wicked ways.

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.”

Proverbs 3:7 NKJV

http://bible.com/114/pro.3.7.nkjv

So if you have read this far, I ask you to do just that. Seek Him for the discernment needed. Not just for political decisions but for your everyday life.

I will be seeking to do the same. And that may require me to stay away from social media so much!

Let me know how it goes with you!!