Turn The Camera

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.”
— Edward Steichen

When you’re looking at a portrait view through a camera lens, you see an object’s height and depth. But when you’re looking from a landscape point-of-view, you see your subject’s actual width and length.

The portrait view is limited, whereas the landscape view is broad.

There are times when we’ll need to look at our story from a landscape view to see the width and length of what God has ordained for us.

I wonder did Jacob understand the magnitude of what God told him when He said, “… your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 28:14)

Was Jacob’s understanding of what God had spoken seen from a limited portrait view?

— North and South.

Did he need to turn the camera to see his inherited promise from a landscape point-of-view?

—West and East.

There are times when God speaks a word to us, and we do not understand the depth, height, width, and length of the matter until we turn the camera. No, we will not be able to comprehend fully, for Ephesians 3:20 says, “God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think….” However, if we turn the camera sideways, we will have some idea of what’s in store.

It’s all according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20b) — the power to believe above and beyond what we see.

Reaching our destiny is based on the way we see and not what we see. There will be times when what we see distorts what God has promised.

Elliott Erwitt said, “To me, photography is an art of observation … I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

I presented this quote to you to say this, we have to see God’s plans and purposes for our lives through a lens of faith from all angles. We cannot allow our limited view to cause us to come short of His plans and purposes.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

God said, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

If we fall short in completing our assignment, God will not be the blame. It will be because the angle of our lens was not wide enough.

Yes, life happens. But we can’t allow it to happen to us but through us. When life happens to us, we become the victim. But when it happens through us, we become victorious — more than conquerors.

In other words, if we allow life to come to us and take up residence, we will never reach our destiny. By allowing life to pass through, it builds us up in every area of our being. The grace of God and the Holy Spirit guarantees that.

So, the next time you’re presented with an opportunity to look into the lens and see God’s plans and purpose for you, look and then look again — look North to South, and then turn the camera and look East to West.

Join me next week for Coffee on The Couch