The Lens of God

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN is a beautiful place—filled with wonders and breathtaking scenery. From soaring mountains and rolling plains to the concrete jungles of our cities and lush,

tree-filled rainforests, one thing is certain: there is beauty all around. Ultimately, “beauty is found in the eye of the beholder.”1 The beauty we see, not only in the earth but in the people of the earth, comes from the way we choose to view it.

One day, many years ago, my wife and I came to the realization that one of our children couldn’t see clearly. We took him to the eye doctor and learned that his vision was significantly impaired. He had been living with this issue his entire life, and to him, it was normal. But upon leaving the doctor’s office with his new glasses, his whole world transformed. He stepped out- side and took one look at a tree in the parking lot and, stopping in his tracks, exclaimed, “Mom, Dad—everything is in 3D!”

Just as a pair of glasses can change a young boy’s view of the world, so too can our view of the world change as we choose to see it through the lens of God. What once appeared blurry or indiscernible can instead be brought into full focus with the aid of a heavenly lens. Suddenly, our ability to see “things as they really are, and … as they really will be,”2 is greatly enhanced. We begin to treat others with greater kindness, seeing with greater clarity the loads they are carrying. We find joy in looking outward and upward, resisting the temptation to be self-interested or unapproachable.

Putting on the lens of God means that we choose to follow Him, to keep His commandments, and to love and serve others. It means that we judge less and love more, and it means we forgive more easily, including the challenge we sometimes have of forgiving ourselves.

Putting on the lens of God means that we answer the invitation found in Psalm 46: “Come, behold the works of the Lord, … be still, and know that I am God.”3 In this way, not only do we see the world more clearly, but we also discern more easily the hand of God in our own lives