Picture Perfect
For the past few weeks, I’ve been in the process of building my new website and updating our mission website to reflect our new “on the field” status. The task requires hours of tedious work, from deciding on colors to choosing a layout. While there are parts of the designing I enjoy, a lot of it is time-consuming work.
One of the essential requirements for the two sites was the need for updated pictures. Our last photo shoot was four years ago, and let’s face it, we look a bit different now. The problem is, we both despise having our pictures taken. Jason struggles to smile on cue, so his portraits look goofy or grumpy (and sometimes both). For me, the issue is not the smile but the pose. I either face the camera too straight-on, resulting in a rather unflattering image that makes me look short and fat. Yuck! Or, I err the other way and present too much of a profile, highlighting my rather large nose, one of my most unattractive features. In short, we don’t enjoy the process because we fear the results.
But, the task had to be done, so I figured we would try a different approach. No professional photographer. No studio. Nope, we would do it ourselves. So, we set up the camera with a remote and tripod in our front yard, dressed up for the occasion, and got to work. We adjusted the settings on the camera to give us a short countdown before taking six pictures back to back. It took a little trial and error, but we finally figured out the specifics to get what we wanted from our equipment. The rest was up to us.
I’m happy to say we ended up with several beautiful photos. There were also, however, a lot of really horrible ones. We had pictures where we were laughing. Some where we were blinking. There were ones where we looked angry and others where we seemed half asleep. There was even one that looked like Jason was trying to strangle me when he was only trying to straighten my necklace.
My point in telling you all this is that, in the end, we had some excellent results, but it took a lot of time and effort and many retakes. This came to my mind yesterday as we sat in our little Welsh chapel with a congregation of four despite our efforts to grow the work and invite the community. It also penetrated my thoughts this morning when I stepped on the scale and was greeted by the same ugly number that has greeted me for the past three weeks despite my determination to walk three to five miles daily and adjust my diet. (Does anyone else hate their scale?)
It’s pretty easy to keep doing something when we see results, but when the effort seems in vain, isn’t it hard to keep going? I must admit that one of the things that frustrates me most in this life is working hard at something and not seeing the benefit. If I weren’t trying, that would be one thing, but I am. So why is nothing happening? It’s so disheartening!
I’m sure you can relate. You work hard to grow close to the Lord, but some days He seems so far away. You strive to maintain a happy marriage, but the resentment seems to build with each passing day. You try to lose weight, but the scale won’t budge. You work hard to impress the boss, but he doesn’t seem to notice. You do all that you know to do to grow the work of the Lord, but the people either don’t see or don’t care.
As I poured out my heart to the Lord this morning, He brought two things to my mind. The first was a quote from a silly movie: “Never give up; never surrender.” I smiled at this reminder and admitted I didn’t want to give up, but it was challenging when I couldn’t see any results from my efforts. That’s when I remembered the words to an old song: “When I can’t stand, I have to lean. And when I can’t see, I must believe.”
Did our photo shoot go perfectly? Absolutely not. Were all the pictures good? Definitely not. But, in the end, did I end up with some lovely images for our website? I did. Actually, there were more good ones than I expected. But that wouldn’t have been the case if we hadn’t kept trying.
Oh, dear one, I know the frustration and disappointment of feeling like your efforts are in vain. Trust me, I’m right there with you. But, God has promised that our labor is not in vain (I Corinthians 15:58). It’s up to us to believe that. No, we may not see it. No, we may not feel like it. But that’s not the point. God invites us to believe in the unseen. He can do a great work in and through us if we keep giving our all and trust Him for the results. I know it’s hard, but keep going. Never give up! Never surrender!
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. - Galatians 6:9