Stay Focused

Isaiah 44:6-8 Psalm 86:11-17

With summer winding down for me (public school begins on July 28 for teachers in Hawaii), and with so much more to do before I go back to work, it really feels as though the things I find to best to focus myself are getting put to the side. Time in nature, doing my devotions, and reading have gone to the wayside to make time to do all the other things I wanted to do over the summer.

I've done a lot, especially when it came to cleaning my yard and doing some things around the house that needed to get done, but there's so much more to do. Especially because we're tenting our house for termites in the days before we go back to work (sigh). Add to this the fact that I really need to wash my car inside and out (and include a polish) as well as my brother coming for a visit and my personal deep need to spend as much time with him and his family as I can, and it's starting to feel as though the things which help keep me together are moving further and further away into the background.

So, today I take a break to, at the very least, do my devotionals - and already I feel a sense of peace.

Life is like that sometimes. The truth is that we all lose focus on the things which hold our selves together. Life gets busy or life-situations change. Maybe we just lost our jobs, or a new child is born into the family. Maybe we're on the verge of losing our homes or getting married. Maybe our parents are approaching an age where the thought of extra care is becoming reality. There are all sorts of things which can take our focus completely away from our selves, and eventually away from the things we find comfort in.

One of the things which really keeps me focused is following the lectionary passages for the week and speaking with God as to how I should act on those words. Today's passages come at a time just when I can feel my life begin to unwind. It comes as a reminder that I should always keep God as my central focus and that through God all things will be clearer.

Taking the time to be in conversation with God always settles my soul as much as it leads my heart and mind into understanding which things are important. Today I need to take time to do the things which I need to do, but that doesn't mean I take away time from my being with God. As the Psalm says, I need an undivided heart in order to get through the things which block my path towards God's love.

So, today's challenge is to find time to re-focus towards what really is most important: to make God my focus and not the things which take me away from God.