Zoom In, Zoom Out
We are living in perilous times as prophesied in II Timothy 3:1. Our normal day-to-day interactions have been reduced to Zoom meetings and our perspectives are more influenced now by what is being portrayed on our screens—television, phones, computers, tablets—than ever before.
Social distancing has led to digital advancing with little room for control of what is being received other than turning all our gadgets off. The caveat of turning everything off is we will be kept in the dark. We know very well that God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)
Whether it's the health pandemic of COVID-19, societal crisis of hatred amongst party lines and race, police shootings, thieves looting, or the economic predicament affecting the world, negativity looms large. So what do we do with so much negativity being portrayed in a time like this?
Might I suggest, we utilize our God given function to zoom in and zoom out. It is a function within the power of every hand that uses a smart phone with a camera. However, it is not limited to your phone. You can zoom in on the positives around us: the amount of people that have recovered from COVID-19, the daily provisions we've received despite a nationwide financial crisis, the opportunities we've had to spend quality time with our families, and how our nation is coming together to stand up for righteousness and justice.
Let's zoom out and take our focus off the negativity and what does not lead to solutions but rather amplifications of our problems. Zooming out does not remove the problem, but it changes your focus.
Whatever you focus on becomes magnified. Whatever is magnified in your life affects your perception. Whatever you perceive in your heart you become. What you become is what you will produce. Input always affects output.
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Philippians 4:8 (NLT)Â And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.