Last week life began to return to normal after our family vacation. The suitcases have been unpacked and put away, the laundry has been processed, and all the souvenirs have found new homes at various places around the house. We also managed to download our digital camera, along with snapshots from four separate cell phones and a fairly lengthy montage of video footage. And then, in order to capitalize on a photo printing sale last weekend, I sat down at the computer and cautiously waded into the massive undertaking of culling through over 1200 pictures with the goal of creating a cohesive scrapbook to capture the essence of our trip while the memories are still fresh!
As I compared the shots, I discovered that the story told by photos of the same subject radically changed depending on how they were framed.
For example, these 3 shots gave different impressions of the same Giant Sequoia trees.
The first, helps show their massive size,
the second, their stunning height
and the third, their towering relationship to other trees nearby.
And of course, what was excluded from the picture affects its message as well. In this case, you can’t tell we were up in the mountains at about 5000 feet elevation or that we’d climbed up the side of an embankment to take these shots.
So, the impact and the story of a picture depends almost totally upon how it’s positioned in the frame.
I think believers can learn a lot from this observation… specifically, about how to process the stuff we experience in the world today. With all the negativity, hostility and doomsday forecasting that swirls around us in the news and on social media, God’s children must learn how to reframe the way we picture events from both the world and in our personal lives. If we try to process them through a natural lens, we’ll always end up with a distorted and grainy illusion of reality.
However, as we meditate on God’s Word, His truth becomes the steady and immovable backdrop that gives us the only reliable filter that will expose the lies of the enemy and enable us see things as they truly are.
It’s then that we continue to bring our circumstances into sharper focus by choosing HOW we think about them… carefully choosing what we include in the image, and how it is framed. No matter how much we may dislike what happens to or around us, Paul makes it clear that believers have no grounds to hold onto anger, bitterness, or entertaining jealous, envious or permissive thoughts. Instead, we are to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5) Peter echoed this by instructing us to “be self-controlled, and set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Pet. 1:13)
So the next time your world seems in a blur…. Let me challenge you to adjust the angle from which you view your situation. Use God’s Word to narrow or widen your field of view, adjust the exposure through worship, and refine your focus with prayer. Then you will capture a clearer image from a different vantage point. Hopefully one from above!
So very true! We need to look at it all through God’s lenses and our perspective will be more clear. Thank you for sharing with us on the Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth! 🙂
Amen! It’s so important that we do not frame things in the negative way that is so common for those in the world.
A nice reminder, Karen. My husband’s a photographer and he is always telling me things about framing; some are over my head while others click. We all see the “subject” differently. Thank you for sharing with Thankful Thursdays.
What an excellent family trip! Beautiful photos! I appreciate the verse you ended with from 2 Cor 10:5 – “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
What a brilliant way to bring perspective to life for us as followers of Christ! It looks like you had a wonderful trip! I’m sure it feels good to be home, though! (well…as soon as all the catch-up laundry is done anyway!!)
Thank you so much for being a part of the #MomentsofHope community! I am thankful for you!
Oh Karen – this is a fabulous challenge to change our perspectives – I love this line: as we meditate on God’s Word, His truth becomes the steady and immovable backdrop that gives us the only reliable filter that will expose the lies of the enemy and enable us see things as they truly are. So True! I am so glad we are neighbors today at #ThoughtProvokingThursday
Wow Karen! Those are some very impressive trees! What a beautiful way to remind us of the magnitude of our Savior! May we always stop and see everything through His eyes as we stand strong in our faith! Thank you for giving us a glimpse of your vacation. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time! I hope you have a refreshing weekend and may God continue to bless you and yours!
Great message on perspective.
It’s all about perspective isn’t it. I’m glad I found you blog today. Your message is very encouraging. I especially like this thought:
So the next time your world seems in a blur…. Let me challenge you to adjust the angle from which you view your situation. Use God’s Word to narrow or widen your field of view, adjust the exposure through worship, and refine your focus with prayer. Then you will capture a clearer image from a different vantage point. Hopefully one from above!
I REALLY like that!
Àmen! You have perfectly reframed this Bible truth. Essentially, having God’s Word as the backdrop is the only way we get to see the bigger picture and realize that God IS in control. Thank you, Karen, for this timely reminder.
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Joe. God’s Word is the only way we can make any sense of all that goes on in our world.
Wow! This is such a powerful truth. A book could be written with this message at the core, it is so profound. I’m grateful I stopped by today, blessings to you as you continue to challenge others to reframe their lives according to God’s truth.
And I’m also glad you stopped by! Reframing is not the norm, and takes lots of practice and persistence!
What a fine word-picture! I have been to Sequoia National Park and know the majesty of those trees. And the angle from which our perspective is makes all the difference in how we perceive the tree, the actions, the words of others, etc. This is such a clarifying post. I thank you for guiding my thoughts to see more clearly. Glad you are a neighbor at Three-Word Wed.
The trees were so beautiful weren’t they? Pictures just don’t do them justice. I just marveled at all that has gone on in the hundreds and hundreds of years that they have been around! Thanks for reading, Linda!
awesome photos
coming from Wholesome Wednesday #51
Great! Just great analogy!!! Interesting that in one group depending on the person they each had a different focus on the same subject! Oh! If we could use our differences to gain a wider perspective! God is massive, and his ways are higher than our and he’s bigger than any other God! Imagine arguing “no, he’s bigger than any other God!” “No! Don’t you get it!?!? His ways are higher?”
Lovely!
And awesome breath taking photos!
So glad you had such an adventure!
Good point! We do often focus on different aspects of God’s character… and often to the neglect of other parts. What we need to realize is that none of His qualities is more supreme than the any other.