AUGUST 17, 2026
ON THE PORCH
OUT OF FOCUS
I’ve been sick for a week straight, so taking a walk and seeing the sunrise this morning felt wonderful. Taking sunrise pictures is one of my favorite things to do. Sharing is my next. As I pointed at the sunrise this morning, my phone kept zooming in on the barbed wired. The more I tapped and pinched the screen, the clearer the fence became.
God speaks to me through pictures, and this morning I was a little slow getting it. But thankfully, God is patient. “Sometimes you get so caught up focusing on the barbs that you miss the Son-rise.”
Ooooff!
Barbed wire fences serve a dual purpose. They keep the purchased and valuable livestock safe, and they keep the thieving, killing predators out.
**The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
Our enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy…period. There is nothing he likes more than injuring a child of God, and getting our focus off Jesus and onto what hurts, what stings, and what wounds. Sometimes I even get hung up on things God is trying to protect me from. There is not one good thing in satan, and the more he can kill, steal, and destroy, the happier he is.
Being sick and eating what doesn’t do well with my body alters my mental thought process, and mine has been out of focus for too long. But I believe I am on the mend, physically and mentally, and after this morning, spiritually.
LORD, help me see the Son-rise past the barbed wire, the whole picture. Help me focus where I should, and not just on what is right in front of me, demanding an audience. Thank You for always providing such stunning sunrises and sunsets for our pleasure. Remind me that Your mercies are new with every sunrise. No matter how bad things seem or what is happening in my life, You are there, You are in control, and the sun will rise tomorrow at Your command. Take my thoughts, my actions, and my heart, and my anxious heart and tap, pinch, and zoom until my focus is back on You, where it should be. Fill my heart with joy, calm my chaotic mind, and heal my weak body. In Your holy and precious name, amen.
**Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my Strength, and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
ON THE PORCH 