Take a Picture. It'll Last Longer.

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words. But even pictures don't even cut it compared to the real thing. Have you ever seen a beautiful landscape or sunset and you try to capture it with a camera? A snapshot never does it justice though. You want so bad to keep the amazing scene, but a picture never turns out as well as the real thing. There are some pretty gorgeous views here in Montana. I want to share them with everyone, so I take pictures. Sometimes the pictures turn out, but I feel bad because even though the pictures are great, they miss out on the actual sight. They're limited to what they see. They don't know what it really looked like.

We have this limited view on life as well. We can't see the whole picture. We see a snapshot. But there is so much more beyond the lens of the camera. There's a bigger picture, a more beautiful picture than just what is right in front of us. There's a bigger plan.

Even though we might not be able to see it all, God can. He knows all things. He, thankfully, can and does see the whole picture. In the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Nephi praises God. He says, "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things and there is not anything save he knows it." (2 Nephi 9:20). Heavenly Father knows where our lives are going to take us. He knows the whole plan. We can know His plan for us too. Although we might not be able to see the whole scene, we can zoom out. We can broaden our view as we come to know our Savior. Jesus Christ should be the center of our lives. The way we live should reflect His teachings. Nephi also says, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26).

As we accept Christ into our lives, as we apply His atonement into our hearts, as we accept Heavenly Father's will and plan for us, our view will ever be expanding. We can put our trust in God that He does see the whole picture, even if we only see a glimpse.





Credit is given to the former Sister Nielson for the idea of this blog.