Our perspective acts just like a camera lens.<\/p>\n
When you take pictures with the manual focus setting, you have to twist the lens to bring your subject into the clearest focus possible. As you make adjustments, some objects will clarify as others blur and become undefined. If you focus your lens on a single blade of grass in front of you, the field and trees in the distance become out of focus. Only what you focus on becomes clear.<\/p>\n
We humans tend to keep one perspective or focus at a time, which makes it difficult to envision the whole panoramic scene of life before us. It\u2019s so easy to focus inward on to-do lists, weekend plans, and the busyness of our family life that we forget about God\u2019s favorite subject: His love for all peoples and nations. Frenetic activity, misplaced focus, and countless fears make us draw smaller circles, and suddenly, it\u2019s all about us. We retreat with people similar to ourselves, hang out in familiar places, and join conversations we feel comfortable in.<\/p>\n
And yet, God won\u2019t leave us in this comfortable space. He sends a hunger that compels us to ask, \u201cWhere is the more?\u201d God is a God of invitation. He doesn\u2019t manipulate or force us into \u201cthe more.\u201d However, He is purposefully drawing bigger circles around us, revealing that His kingdom is so much more than we thought. We find ourselves in carefully crafted moments that reveal that \u201cpanoramic shot\u201d where He lives and moves, moments that lift our eyes to glimpse what He loves most. These revelations are designed to create a dilemma for us, where (hopefully) we no longer want to return to our small circles.<\/p>\n
You see, God\u2019s heart is huge! It encompasses not only individuals, but also people groups and nations. He draws big circles. He makes big plans. He dreams enormous dreams. One of my favorite verses that give us an example of this reality is Luke 1:33: \u201c\u2026and He will rule over Jacob\u2019s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.\u201d<\/em> This describes the dynamic growth happening in the kingdom. This growth has no stopping point, no \u201cmaximum fill line\u201d, and no plateau. God\u2019s kingdom has the potential to grow in a person with no end-point.<\/p>\n But this dynamic kind of life depends on my willingness. As a parent, I need to ask myself some hard questions.<\/p>\n Our family started praying two years ago, \u201cWe give You permission to ruin our plans.\u201d And He has! God has redrawn our circles. He continues to make them bigger.<\/p>\n God has shown us how deeply He loves people, so much that He gave everything for them to come back to Him. He has shown us that every person, group, and nationality is worthy of His love. He has shown us that our family is made for the purpose of bringing the revelation of Jesus to others who don\u2019t know Him. Psalm 36:9b says, \u201c\u2026 In Your light we see light.\u201d<\/em> When Jesus and His kingdom are the focus of our family\u2019s life, people can\u2019t help but experience Jesus and His kingdom through us.<\/p>\n It\u2019s such an incredible invitation: to be a part of God\u2019s kingdom, to allow Him to reveal it through our lives. Ordinary families like yours and mine are dynamically affecting the world as we begin loving God\u2019s favorite subjects. The pleasure becomes all His \u2026 and the picture is glorious.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our perspective acts just like a camera lens. When you take pictures with the manual focus setting, you have to twist the lens to bring your subject into the clearest focus possible. As you make adjustments, some objects will clarify as others blur and become undefined. If you focus your lens on a single blade […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":2706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n