I have always loved the beauty of nature, and especially enjoy walking or riding on back country roads to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. From time to time I’ve stopped to take pictures, but had never considered myself much of a photographer, especially as photos I used to send out for printing would come back with the tops of heads chopped off.

But that is changing, and I’ve been enjoying taking photos to capture the beauty as I am out on my walks. I’ve been exploring how to use the zoom lens on my phone, and see how it can bring distant views up close, or capture the delicate beauty of a wildflower.

On a recent walk as I practiced using the zoom lens, I thought about how I can cut so much out of a picture in this mode. I’ve seen over the years how wooded areas have become so littered with fallen trees from storms that have gone through. I can zoom beyond messes I see or people’s homes to just capture the view I’m gazing at and appreciating.

This led to another thought. All around us we see messes that the storms of life have left behind. We see circumstances that cause so much anxiety, pain, and suffering. We see trials that seem so desperate, and as we look at these situations in our lives, families, friends, and around the world, we can lose hope that anything will ever change. 

But we have a zoom lens built into us. It’s called faith. We can look beyond the messes, pain, suffering and trials surrounding us, and we can zoom in on the One who can do something about it. As we take our focus off of what we see before us, we can look beyond it all and put our focus on the God of hope.

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This is one of my favorite scriptures and just reading it renews my hope.

Just as I’ve had to learn how to use the zoom lens on my phone camera, and then to practice with it, so we need to learn how to get our focus off of the things of this world and zoom in on the Lord and His faithfulness to us. As we study God’s word, He will teach us how.

As I can look back on past photos I’ve taken to zoom in on those memories, to remember and enjoy the beauty again, so we can look back and zoom in on the times when God came through for us in the past. As we remember His past faithfulness to us, it renews and strengthens our faith, and reminds us that the God of hope is still able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask, think or imagine.

Colossians 3:1-2 tells us to set our hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. This takes work and much practice to shift our focus from the things that surround us, drawing us further down each day.  But we can learn to look above it all, as when we look at the beauty of distant views, and zoom in on Jesus, our God of the impossible.

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.