The Lens We Choose
Seeing Through The Eyes Of Gratitude
"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:2
One of the things this season has been teaching me is that life is often less about what I'm looking at than the lens I'm looking through.
The circumstances haven't changed nearly as much as I would like. There are still unanswered questions, prayers that continue to unfold, and people I deeply love who are walking difficult roads.
Yet in the middle of all of it, the Father keeps opening my eyes to things I would have completely missed if disappointment had become the way I saw the world.
The Lens We Live Through
One of the quiet dangers of disappointment is that it slowly becomes the lens through which we see everything else.
When that happens, what is missing becomes larger than what has already been given.
We begin measuring life by the prayers that have not yet been answered instead of noticing the quiet ways the Father's love keeps revealing itself all around us.
Abba never leaves us there; He gently lifts our eyes until we begin seeing His goodness again.
Learning To See From Above
When Paul tells us to set our minds on things above, he is inviting us to see from the Father's heart.
The Father has never ignored the brokenness of this world. He simply refuses to let brokenness have the final word. His love keeps revealing grace in places disappointment would never think to look.
The Miracles Already Here
Gratitude doesn't ignore the gaps.
It simply puts them in their proper place.
There are still questions.
There are still tears.
There are still prayers making their way through time.
But there is also grace.
There is kindness.
There is strength for today.
There is the quiet presence of Christ.
Gratitude teaches our hearts to see what the Father has been giving us all along.
And when our eyes begin seeing through His love, we discover that heaven has been touching earth in far more places than we ever imagined.
Reflection
What lens have I been looking through lately?
Where has Abba been quietly revealing His goodness?
What gift has been beside me all along that I almost missed?
Prayer
Abba Father, lift my eyes to Your goodness today. Teach me to see through the lens of Your love, and let gratitude become the quiet song of my heart.