Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive, but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth. (Proverbs 17:24, HCSB)
I was raised by creative parents. My mother is an artist, and my father was a landscape photographer. I grew up with an education about the importance of composition, light and especially focus. I learned that award-wining images need a single focus—no matter how detailed the scene.
In recent years I’ve dabbled in photography myself and the lessons I learned as a child have begun to surface. Re-examining all I’ve been taught, I’ve found a secondary application for many of those lessons.
Life is like one of my dad’s images. It’s rich with details and subtext. There are shadows and light, areas of color and areas of khaki and gray. But where is the focus? That often depends on the image. In determining where to look, you have to follow the light.
Going about my day-to-day life, I’ve learned how easy it is to get sidetracked. I’ve gotten excited about the bright colors when things go well, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the difficulties that show up in more somber shades. Once, during one of our son’s deployments, I lived almost nine months in black and white. Instead of keeping my eyes on the focus, the light, I was sucked into the maelstrom of fear and dread that accompanies sending someone you love away to war.
I think you’ve already anticipated what I’ve discovered as the one true focus of my life. It’s God, of course. He’s shown me again and again that He’s the only constant—the firm foundation that keeps me anchored—even when someone you love is in harm’s way.
So next time the details of daily life blur your focus, follow the light and let God return you to the foundation of His infinite love and provision.
