Zoom Out

I had something wrong with me. It made me feel ashamed. It hurt people I loved and cared for. It made me feel alone. It was too strong to get rid of. I wanted to move forward but it was impossible to move past. That one thing that was wrong with me was my sin. I was blind in it and the only thing I was able to see was the sin itself; but there was hope. Even as a believer I too have sinned. The only difference from someone in my circumstance is that I have faith in a redemptive God who can and did in fact wipe away the sin covering my eyes. When my eyes were opened I was able to do something I wasn't able to do before, zoom out.

Zoom out? Why would I need to do that now that I can see clearly? Praise Jesus that you have sight, but what are you looking at? It's only natural to look around you but have you ever zoomed out? Looking benefits you in many ways. It allows you to identify your surroundings and process things within your proximity. It's extremely helpful when you're presenting the Gospel and using your spiritual eyes to look into someone's heart to extend an invitation to God's kingdom. Zooming out is an action that serves a different purpose. Zooming out gives you the full picture. It allows you to perceive bigger things surrounding other people. Your knowledge and confidence is expanded to what has been zoomed out because you can map out and direct others to a destination.

How's this applicable? The journey that we're all taking to follow Jesus has directions and a destination. Looking at your surroundings is important so you're not steering off the path and so you're preventing speed bumps. That is for the here and now. God's plan is infinitely larger than the present so we need to zoom out and continue the journey with the confidence that we know where we're going.

Something else I want you to take away from this is one other thing that happens when you zoom out. That sin that I kept looking at was tearing me apart until I zoomed out to see how God was there the entire time. I was so focused on my sin that I lost sight that God was encouraging, caring for, and strengthening me in the midst of my sin. I zoomed out even farther and saw the other blessings God has given me along with the blessings He's promised me as I grow closer to Him.

The sin that I once thought was big and ugly was brought down to its original size...small. Now that I've zoomed out I was able to see that my God was and is bigger than all of my sin to conquer it, even when we wore it all on the cross. He was too big for sin and powerful enough to give you the sight to see clearly and zoom out in order to see His glory fully.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." -Romans 8:18