What Are You Magnifying?
For centuries, long before the invention of eyeglasses, people used magnifying glasses to read small print or help them to see better. Of course, a magnifying glass doesn't actually change the size of something, it changes your perspective so that it appears larger to you.
Interestingly, our minds work a lot like a magnifying glass. The more you think about something, the larger you perceive it to be. When you focus intently on your situation, it doesn't actually change anything in the natural, but your situation becomes larger and larger in your mind. Magnifying the wrong things can set your life on the wrong course in a hurry. That's why we have to keep things in the right perspective and know when to stop dwelling on the things we can't change. If you continue to focus on your problems, they can become so large in your mind that you can literally be consumed by them. But when you focus on God and magnify Him in your life, all the things of this world—the challenges, obstacles and disappointments—just seem to melt away.
Here's another way to look at it: if you hold up a quarter in front of you with your arm outstretched and one eye closed, the quarter seems small compared to everything else you see around you. But if you pull that quarter closer to your eye, it appears much larger. In fact, if you hold it closely enough, you won't be able to see anything else. This is what happens so often in life — difficulties and challenges seem so much larger than they actually are simply because we hold them closer than necessary.
The wrong perspective will lead you down the wrong path, but changing your perspective can happen in a split second by simply changing your focus. When I come up against challenges, I remind myself of all the great things God has done for me. I begin to thank Him for allowing me to know Him; I thank Him for my family, my children and my husband. I recall how God brought me through past trials and difficulties. I am always amazed at how my perspective changes when I have a grateful heart and choose to magnify the right things in my life!
Today, I encourage you to take inventory of your thoughts. You might want to make a list of all the things that are magnified in your life right now. Hold that list out in front of you and think about how big your God is! Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in greater ways. Sing a song of praise to Him as you release that list of cares into His loving arms. Remember, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Magnify Him and watch the weight of the world disappear.
"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3, AMP).
Interestingly, our minds work a lot like a magnifying glass. The more you think about something, the larger you perceive it to be. When you focus intently on your situation, it doesn't actually change anything in the natural, but your situation becomes larger and larger in your mind. Magnifying the wrong things can set your life on the wrong course in a hurry. That's why we have to keep things in the right perspective and know when to stop dwelling on the things we can't change. If you continue to focus on your problems, they can become so large in your mind that you can literally be consumed by them. But when you focus on God and magnify Him in your life, all the things of this world—the challenges, obstacles and disappointments—just seem to melt away.
Here's another way to look at it: if you hold up a quarter in front of you with your arm outstretched and one eye closed, the quarter seems small compared to everything else you see around you. But if you pull that quarter closer to your eye, it appears much larger. In fact, if you hold it closely enough, you won't be able to see anything else. This is what happens so often in life — difficulties and challenges seem so much larger than they actually are simply because we hold them closer than necessary.
The wrong perspective will lead you down the wrong path, but changing your perspective can happen in a split second by simply changing your focus. When I come up against challenges, I remind myself of all the great things God has done for me. I begin to thank Him for allowing me to know Him; I thank Him for my family, my children and my husband. I recall how God brought me through past trials and difficulties. I am always amazed at how my perspective changes when I have a grateful heart and choose to magnify the right things in my life!
Today, I encourage you to take inventory of your thoughts. You might want to make a list of all the things that are magnified in your life right now. Hold that list out in front of you and think about how big your God is! Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in greater ways. Sing a song of praise to Him as you release that list of cares into His loving arms. Remember, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Magnify Him and watch the weight of the world disappear.
"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3, AMP).