What Do You Magnify?

What do you magnify? I don’t know about you, but in order to see the fine print of life, I squint. Two small but permanent lines crease my forehead as proof. Even though several pairs of reading glasses are scattered throughout the house, I inevitably can’t find a pair when I need one. My trusty magnifying glass, however, is always in the kitchen drawer. The magnifying glass works well to bring into focus dosages on medicines and laundry instructions on new clothes. Once I examined a brown speck I pulled off our dog to determine if I was holding mud or a tick. Fortunately, it was mud.

How about you? Even if you’re reading this with no glasses, you might magnify things that have nothing to do with physical eyesight. Yep. We all do.

When we’re faced with difficult circumstances or relationships, the more we think about them, the bigger they grow. A loved one doesn’t arrive at the expected time and we envision a terrible car accident. We fear our shaky finances will lead to bankruptcy. We face a never-ending to-do list with dwindling time and energy. The physical pain we feel whispers a diagnosis of cancer. And on and on. We magnify our problems until we’re left paralyzed by what we believe is insurmountable.

But instead of magnifying circumstances, what if we magnify the One who has power over everything we face? When we magnify God, we give Him the rightful place in our lives as Lord of all. He puts everything else into perspective. We exchange our fear for His faithfulness, our weakness for His strength, our loneliness for His presence. We can breathe again.

A beautiful verse in Psalms tells us a way to magnify Him: “I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.” (Psalm 69:30 NASB, italics mine) When we thank God, our focus shifts from ourselves to the One who is worthy of all our praise. We’re reminded of His goodness and care for us in the past. He never changes, and we can be confident He will take care of us in our future.

During this holiday season and every day afterward, may we magnify the Lord with thanksgiving. As you celebrate the holidays, try this: give everyone at your table a sheet with each letter of the alphabet. Ask them to write something they’re thankful for starting with each letter, and share the responses!

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together”! (Psalm 34:3 NASB) He is worthy of all our praise and thanksgiving.

Now it’s your turn! What are you thankful for? Please leave your comments in the box below.