How a Macro Lens Can Save You Pain
Sep 12, 2022
Do you like those pictures which are beautiful but ambiguous? The ones with rich detailing of spirals or lines or swirls and sparkling with iridescent colors? The ones where you’re looking at something exquisite but have no idea what it is? Then you swipe, and the picture is zoomed out, and you realize it was a flower's filament which had enamored you.
Did you know that a “macro” lens is what’s used to produce “micro photography?” Interesting juxtaposition, huh?
Sometimes I have a love/hate relationship with those pictures. It’s wonderful when realizing I was gazing at a butterfly’s wing, but my stomach churns a bit when the reveal shows a spider’s eye.
Tiny things in life are like that. They tend to irritate or captivate.
You can deal with a toddler’s whimpering and vomiting for three straight days when they’re fighting a recurring 102° fever but are checking if it’s possible to hire a “Toddler Uber” to drive behind you to avoid their intermittent whining during a three-hour drive. (Now there’s a business idea!)
You stop to “smell the roses” (literally) and notice petite dew drops nestled at the base of the pistil, with a glistening rainbow dancing inside them, like flakes swirling inside a snow globe. Beauty startles you with something greater than appreciation. The scent of sacred wafts through your soul.
Seeing or ignoring tiny things has huge consequences.
Luke 16:10 advises, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
The second part of that proclamation isn’t going viral on memes and reels. As a matter of fact, it’s been entirely the opposite for quite some time.
“Oh, it’s okay if you’re not faithful to your (one) spouse. You can be trusted to be a leader of millions!”
“It’s not theft to download that music or movie without paying for it. You know how much money those producers and musicians are raking in every year? Millions! Maybe even billions!”
“You only lied because your boss/colleague/spouse/friend/sibling/parent/neighbor is soooo unreasonable. Besides, how many times have they lied to you?”
I don’t know the first part is popular today, either.
“But God,” (imagine the whiny toddler’s voice from above), “couldn’t you just send an agent to my blog and have them be so enamored they’d immediately offer a five-book deal? Or three. Okay, one. I can start with one. Why do I have to invest my time in marketing? That’s so not my thing.” (I have a “friend” whose been known to say this.)
Moving on.
Sometimes when we think of the First Great Commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength,” we think “Macro.” Big stuff like running a city-wide evangelism campaign, delivering a stage presentation, organizing a human trafficking rescue operation.
We should think and act “macro.” Just not at the expense of “micro.”
If we adjust our usual perspective of thinking “macro vs micro,” to “macro = micro,” then we’ll line up with Luke 16:10.
This verse doesn’t just serve as a warning, although it is that. It’s also a promise.
When we are faithful with the small, we’ll be faithful with the big. And God loves growing us up to give us more and more opportunities to impact our world, becoming more and more our best and true selves.
What’s tiny in your life today that Luke 16:10 is warning you to focus on? That if you don’t deal with it now is going to lead to increasing short-cuts, excuses, wrongdoing? Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will come.
If you choose to respond to the unpleasant pain of conviction, you won't have to deal with the excruciating pain of circumstances.
What’s tiny in your life today that Luke 16:10 is encouraging you to keep doing? To not, as Thessalonians 3:13 exhorts, “grow weary in well-doing.” A reward is coming. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will come. Hebrews 11:6 confirms this for you. “…He rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
God is not offended by you believing he rewards faithfulness. He’s offended if you don’t believe this.
This week, put on a “macro” lens and search for the micro. You'll be convicted, encouraged, or both. But what you won't be is regretful.
©Stephanie D. Smith, 2022
