What steps do you take to make yourself focus? Especially in our world today, with the constant pull to other activities, jobs, chores, and desires. Are you someone who has to turn your phone on airplane mode so you’re not distracted by incoming calls or texts? Maybe you just leave your phone at home and disconnect. Are you the type to put in your headphones and have music playing to center your focus? I’m on a reading kick this year, and to focus at night while my husband watches TV I need instrumental music on, because the conversations on the TV are too distracting. When I sit down to write a blog, I need to be completely removed from the temptation of distractions. The diligence needed to fix our focus on something for longer than five minutes can be a challenge, and we seem to be losing more and more of that diligence as the worlds accommodations and entertainment seem to get louder.
My favorite way to fix my focus is to make lists, it’s especially helpful when cleaning, organizing, or when there’s a lot going on in my mind that I need to straighten out. I picked up the trait from a woman I used to work for, there was nothing like throwing away a crossed off check list of baked good items you spent two days preparing.
But that same process doesn’t translate well to fixing my focus on the Lord. In fact I think He is often challenging me to throw out those lists because I can become to reliant on them, and I can miss opportunities He is bringing into my day because I am just too focus on what I want to accomplish.
Being able to choose the focal point of our attention is yet another sign of being made in the image of God. It’s our free will to be able to choose what our focus will be, and He is delighted when our focus is fixed on Him.
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
But with the constant pulls of every day life, how can we even being to keep Him at the center of our focus? I am no expert, I’m writing this more to myself than anyone else, at the end of the day all I can do is put the scripture I read into practice.
“..and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5(b)
Guarding our thoughts diligently will help us stay close to the Lord, He is waiting for our thoughts to turn to Him, and He rejoices when they do. Invite the Lord in asking for a refreshment of His presence, even when the situation feels unbearable, He’ll meet you where you are.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18
I don’t know about you, but this scripture is hard to wrap my head around. I am always focused on what I am seeing, it’s right in front of me! It’s typically commanding my attention, and usually comes in the form of a 2 year old little girl looking for snacks or playtime. There is such a balance between the important and the urgent, and allowing the Lord to reveal to me the difference.
I don’t see the Lord, but I know He is preparing me for each and every day, giving me the ability to walk in His presence and accomplish the will He has set before me. If I only focus on what I can “see” I can miss what the Lord is trying to do within me, and within the hearts of those around me.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
The Hebrew word for “seek” is “darash”, which means, “to resort to, to seek with care, to enquire, to consult.” I lose focus on the Lord because I can hold on so tightly to what I have prepare. I hold onto the control I long to have, I make lists and plans so that I can know what is coming. I hold on so tightly, refusing to allow myself to be open to the Lord, to seek Him, to consult Him, to enquire what He has planned for me for the day. Fixing my focus on the Lord means needing to change my grasp on control and open my heart to Him. To let the only I grasp onto be Jesus’ hand. Asking the Holy Spirit to order my day and control my thoughts. He won’t take away our free will, but seeking Him will make taking our thoughts captive easier. He will bring the “unseen” to our attention because we’re open to Him and His presence.
It is a constant choice to fix our focus on Jesus, one I know I will get right sometimes, and fail plenty of other times, but to be chasing and seeking the face of Jesus is exactly where I want to be.
In Christ,
Becca Drumheller
