Mark Twain quipped, “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” Proverbs 29:18 reads, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.” This verse describes those who are out of focus contrasted with those who are in focus. When you are out of focus, be aware of three things.

Being out of focus yields a distortedness in life. Have you ever been in a hall of mirrors at an amusement park? In this attraction, the walls are lined with distorted mirrors creating a warped version of the real you. Figuratively, a hall of mirrors refers to situations that are disorienting or deceptive. Without the Bible life is like a hall of mirrors. Here are some examples. 1 Samuel 3:1 reads, “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” Lamentations 2:9 reads, “Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The Law is no more, And her prophets find no vision from the Lord.”

Being out of focus yields a distractedness in life. Don’t let anything distract you from the goal of life. Philippians 3:14 reads, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Hebrews 12:1b reads, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Historically, note two instances of this distractedness in life. Judges 21:25 reads, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” 2 Chronicles 28:19 reads, “For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord.” Moral restraint really matters!

Being out of focus yields a distrustfulness in life. Beware of trusting what you shouldn’t and not trusting what you should. Jeremiah 17:5 reads, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7 reads, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.” Taking heed to the Word of God helps you to know who to trust and how to trust. Proverbs 29:18b reads, “But happy is he who keeps the law.” This is the blessed life as in Psalm 1:1-2, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.” Remember to turn back to the Bible when you are out of focus.

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, of Robertsdale, is the author of "Don't Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah.