My sister Diana and I took great delight in designing games for my youngest sister, Kim, when she was little.  One of our favorites was a birthday scavenger hunt where Kim had to figure out clues in order to discover the whereabouts of her presents.  Kim had a great deal of fun searching for those gifts and Diana and I took delight in watching her eyes light up when she figured out a clue and was rewarded with another colorful package.

            In January of 2011 I joined an online photography group called the "365 Project".  Photographers of all levels of ability search out pictures that capture their daily routines and the world around them in a creative and unique way.  Sometimes the photos are simply meant to document what their day was like.  But many use the challenge of capturing a picture each day as a means to improve their craft.  For some it’s a hobby and others it’s a passion but the main goal of many of the “365” photographers is to learn to look at the common, everyday things with a new perspective.  You don't need fancy equipment or a top of the line camera to join or to participate.  All you need is eyes to see.

            The Christian walk requires us to look for God in a similar fashion.  Years ago (1984 to be exact) David and Karen Mains wrote a book called The God Hunt.  In it they encouraged families to search for "God sightings" like Kim searched for her birthday presents those many years ago.  The interesting aspect of this activity is similar to that of the 365 Project.  The more you look, the more you see.  I recently read of a young mom who uses the walk to the school bus with her children as a way to see God at work in the world around them.  They look at the birds and see God's creativity.  They say hello and smile at people they know and see His love.  What a wonderful way to inspire children to recognize that God is with His creation!

            Developing your spiritual eyes is a must on the walk of Christian maturity.   It's a challenge to see life through a spiritual lens, because as adults, we've been conditioned to be concrete and practical.  In fact, I would propose that our practical, analytical and technological approach to daily living actually deadens our spiritual eyesight.  We lack the ability to see God at work because we’ve been conditioned to think that He’s NOT at work- especially in those things.  I believe God is at work in it all but most of us don’t see Him at work in anything because we think all God’s work has to miraculous or awe-inspiring.  But oftentimes, He is at work in the simple, daily routine each of us goes through just like there are pictures all around us each day.  Like my sister, we must look for the clues if we’re to discover what treasures await us.  That is the challenge of seeing with spiritual eyes, not just the two organs attached to our face.  If we do not learn to see things from a spiritual perspective, we may end up like the servant of Elisha, who could only see the enemies encircled around his camp (2 Kings 6: 8-17).  It took the prayer of Elisha to open his eyes to the spiritual realm.
  
          Cultivating your spiritual eyes is not difficult, but it does require that you look beyond the ordinary and the usual.  One day, while I waited for my friend to check out her groceries, I was charged with the task of entertaining her 3 year old daughter.  How do you keep an active toddler in a shopping cart in a busy supermarket when all she wants to do is get out?  In a moment of inspiration I began a game of "I Spy".  It was the perfect diversion for Cloe.  She loved finding the different colors and objects that I picked out and I was amazed at her powers of observation!  The same is true about seeing God in the world around you and in your life.  You are more observant than you think!  Seeing God at work does not always mean we will be looking at "supernatural" events in our lives.  More often it is learning to see those everyday events from a new vantage point.  It doesn't take fancy equipment or a top of the line camera to catch sight of God.  All you need is eyes to see.  Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.  (Psalm 66:5)
 
Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.
https://www.annhlefevre.com; Olivetreeann@mail.com; https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhlefevre; https://www.facebook.com/ann.h.lefevre

 And now for something a little different!  While I'm having knee surgery and recovering in physical therapy Ready for the Road Ahead is digging into the archives and publishing articles that were written before the website was in existence.  First up a piece from December of 2010- the month it all began!

            The story goes that there once was a great funambulist (tightrope walker) who stretched a hemp rope across a great gorge while an incredulous crowd gathered and watched.  As the cord was caught by an assistant and attached to the other side of the ravine, the confident acrobat began to speak to the crowd.  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he called out, “I have crossed the widest canyons high above raging rivers and plummeting cascades!  And now, I shall attempt to cross your beautiful gorge.  Who believes that I shall succeed in my daring feat?”  Murmurs and discussions buzzed around the circle of on-lookers.  It was obvious that the man had trained for this stunt.  He sported an athletic frame of large, bulging muscles.  He was also dressed for the occasion in leotards, slippers and gloves.  He had a rod the exact length of his height to give him balance as he made his way across the tightrope. 
            “Sir, we believe you can do it!” a man called out as the rest applauded.
            But they were shocked and stunned when he placed a wheelbarrow upon the rope and said, “Then who will climb aboard and accompany me across?”  No one dared to speak.  Their previous faith in the acrobat was in crisis.  They trusted him when the stunt only included him, but did they trust him when it involved one of them?
            Suddenly from the middle of the crowd came a small voice, “I’ll go!”
            A little girl climbed into the wheelbarrow and held on to the sides.  Against the protests of those gathered to watch, the funambulist began the journey.  Some closed their eyes afraid to look.  Others held their breath and fearing for the safety of the little girl.  But the little girl just looked straight ahead as they passed the mid-point and then landed on the other side.
            By now a crowd had gathered there too.  A reporter rushed forward with a note pad and pen in hand.  “Little girl!” he said excitedly, “Weren’t you afraid of falling?”
            The angelic child scrunched her face and replied indignantly, “NO!”
            “Why not?” asked the reporter.
            “Because that’s my Dad!” she replied smiling at him confidently.
            The Scriptures remind us over and over again that God is a Father who keeps His promises.  We can trust Him because He is faithful.  It’s easy to accept this thought as long as it remains in the realm of our minds just as it was easy for the crowd to accept the claims of the tightrope walker as long as they did not have to cross the wire with him.  But we are exhorted James 3:17 that faith without any physical evidence of its existence (that is to say works) is dead.  Like the little girl we must climb into the wheelbarrow because we know our Father is pushing it.  Jesus challenged Peter to do the same when a storm raged around their boat (Mt. 14:22-33). 
            Whatever we are facing in life, if we believe God can take care of us we will behave accordingly.  Like Peter we will step out of the boat.  If we believe that God loves us, we will risk loving others.  If we believe God provides, we will not keep things to ourselves, but freely give to others.  If we believe God cares for our daily needs, we will not worry about what we have and don’t have (Mt. 6:25-33; Phil. 4:19).  How is God the Father asking you to climb in the wheelbarrow or step out of the boat this week?  How will you as His child respond?  Will you be silenced like the crowd, or will you climb in willingly like the little girl?  Will you step out of the boat with your eyes on Jesus like Peter or will you let your focus remain on the waves?  Whatever your response remember it indicates what you truly believe about your Father.
Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.                                                   
Reprinted and Revised from 12/5/2010
 
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Photography, Faith and the Art of Seeing #23
 
This year Ready for the Road Ahead is taking on a new direction.  It is one that follows the grand theme of sight in all aspects which runs throughout Scripture.  My weekly writings will be excerpts from a book of the same name which should be published (Lord willing) later this year.
 
            Sometimes when I find myself in a photographic slump I’ll play a little “game” I call, “One Year Ago Today”.  I find a picture I’ve taken the year before and dabble with it, changing colors, adding textures or layers, or both and see what I come up with.  On one particular day I landed on a shot I’d taken of some wildflowers and grasses on a small hill by our church.  It was a truly boring picture and I wondered why I saved it even though the sky was a very nice blue.  I began to play with the color and ended up turning the sunny day into an overcast one.  After playing with some textures, merging two more shots with the first I ended up with an image of a little girl walking along a beach ready to collect shells.  It reminded me of Andrew Wyeth’s painting “Christina’s World” although it was not anything near the caliber of the master!  When I look at that picture now, I know it has individual layers, but the overall image has a unity to it that makes them one.  And that is how I see the Lord working in both the layers of Isaiah’s prophecy and the layers of my life.

            Isaiah’s ministry takes place at a critical juncture in the national life of Israel.  King Uzziah has died after sitting on the throne for 52 years.  In spite of some personal missteps, Uzziah had been a great leader.  Who would succeed him and would they continue to serve the people wisely by following the ways of the Lord?  A new layer was about to be added to the history of Israel.  Sadly, Ahaz was the exact opposite of Uzziah.  Isaiah arrives on the scene to declare that judgment is certain for the wayward king (Is. 7:17) but that there is also hope for the faithful because a future king will serve in faithfulness and with justice (Is. 11:1-5).  These two themes of judgment and a restored kingdom under a descendant of David are viewed like slides in a projector.  In many ways they appear to be in order but sometimes they seem mixed.  At times they seem to have been fulfilled (such as when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B. C.), but at other times (such as under the godly leadership of Hezekiah, Ahaz’s successor) the fulfillment seems to fall a little bit short.  Hezekiah, like all the other kings before him died, which is a far cry from the eternal descendant of David who is promised in Is. 9:2-11. Not only did the prophet live during the reigns of three of Israel’s better-known kings (Is. 1:1; Uzziah-Is. 6:1, Ahaz- Is. 7:1-12, and Hezekiah- Is. 37:1-7), the Lord also revealed to him three distinct “servants” (Cyrus- Is. 44:28; 45:1, the nation of Israel- Is. 41:8-9; 44:1-3; 49:3, and the Servant of the Lord- 42:18-22; 49:5-6; 53:11) and the previously mentioned messages of judgment (Is. 2:12; 3:13, etc.) and restoration (Is. 40:1-2; 54:4-8; 61:1-9, etc.) given to the people of his day (which in turn is meant for us too).  Like the phases we pass through in life, Isaiah notes that history, individuals or nations, and God’s unfailing character also pass through phases.  Life, and particularly time, writes Isaiah, is layered.

            Isaiah saw his world as a composite.  It was made up of layers from the present, the not so distant future and a future farther off than he could imagine.  Some of his layers we can see as we look over the course of Israel’s history.  From the nation’s humble beginnings as a small family of wandering shepherds to a massive group of people who became a more unified nation while they wandered through the wilderness looking for a Promised Land, Isaiah sees each phase as a point along a journey which has a glorious end and whose purpose is to bring glory to the Lord (Is. 4:2; 60-62).  While my photographic composite of “The Shell Seeker” is fictional, Israel’s is not.

            It is not hard to see life in layers the older you get.  It’s not so easy to see them when you’re younger.  Like my “Shell Seeker” image, I consist of layers shaped and worked by my Creator to make a picture which brings Him glory just as Israel’s composite was meant to bring God glory (Is. 2:1-4).  In fact every life, not just mine, is a composite with its own layers that tell a story (Eph. 2:8-10).  Faith involves seeing all of those layers in your composite with a glorious end in view in the same fashion it was revealed to Isaiah regarding Israel (1 Cor. 13:12).  So, while I may not be able to  see all the layers at work in my life just yet, knowing the Lord is shaping my life that way is one of the best lessons I’ve learned about photography, faith and the art of seeing.
Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.

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