Sunday morning, I peeked outside and saw this awesome sunrise. So I grabbed my new IPAD mini and stepped out my front door to try out the camera feature. A cold icy slush squishing between my toes reminded me I was in my robe sans slippers, so I didn’t venture much further than the welcome mat.
“You have to come see this sunrise,” I hollered to my husband. As Jack grabbed his camera, I quickly pushed buttons to post it on Facebook. I love that feature! No more SIM cards and USB cables!
Isn’t it beautiful?
After my photo was permanently entrenched on Facebook, I scrutinized my shot. Too late! As Jack came back into the house, I moaned. “I got the power lines in the picture.” My semi-professional camera buff, Kodak Jack, has patiently reminded me for years that power lines in a picture are a no-no.
“Try again,” Jack said. “Go further out into the yard by the driveway.”
I looked at my unshod feet and the brightening sky. “It’s too late.” I surveyed my picture again. “Oh well, power lines are a part of life.” I pointed to the power pole in the picture. “At least you can tell they are power lines and not just a line across the picture.”
But in my mind, my picture was marred. It wasn’t the perfect picture. Everyone else would see power lines and not that beautiful sunrise.
I sold my friends short. Within a few moments, several likes appeared on my page. Then I noticed someone had shared my photo, tagged with this header: “Who says there is no God?”
My friend, Larry, looked beyond the power lines to see the power Source
Larry’s reaction made me realize how often my myopic view of the world impedes my ability to see my Savior at work. I look at the short-range obstacles, allowing the bigger picture glory of my omnificent God to blur in the background. If I constantly fixed my eyes on Jesus, as Hebrews 12:2 tells me to do, the obstacles and unpleasant parts of life would just become a smaller detail of life. Yes, they would still be there, but in light of God’s glory, they would no longer be so important.
Larry had the right idea when he looked at the sunrise instead of the power lines. After all, any electrical engineer can make a power line. Only God can create a sunrise.
Karla Akins says
Amen! Great post, Karen! And beautiful pic!
Karen Wingate says
Thank you, Karla!
Patty Wysong says
Oh Karen. You nailed it on the head. Power lines are part of life–we’ve got to look beyond them to the true power source who creates the sunrise. So good. Thank you!
Karen says
Thank you, Patty. It’s a lesson I need to apply a lot more often!