Fine-Tuning Our Focus
From mid-June until now, I’ve been focused on VBS kiddos, then I hopped right into focus on 4-legged kiddos at my children’s place then to my 2-legged grand-kiddos at my home, back to focus on my children in Austin, and now back home to the two 4-legged furry kiddos of my Frisco family while they’re away. Whew! FOCUS – can sometimes be draining. Being responsible for the care and well-being of others and focusing on their needs keeps us from focusing on our own needs. I get it. We love focusing on our loved ones…..because, well…..we love them. We are wholly devoted to them. But, giving our full attention to something, somethings, and “someones” means taking the FOCUS off of ourselves.
Why is ME-focus important? I refer again to Jesus’ words in establishing “FOCUS” priorities: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39. Focus priorities look like this: Love God. Love yourself. Love others. The fact is – unless we care about WHO is most important, we can never love others to the capacity that God intended for us. We become better parents, employers, employees, friends, neighbors and leaders when our FOCUS starts with God and ourselves. So, I’ll admit I’m ready for some God and me-focus.
I have some friends who have asked me for some one-on-one time. I have had to put them off while I was focused on the care of others. And, now, before I can give them the quality and Spirit-led counsel they need – I MUST focus on “loving the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind” which means spending time with Him to get me loving me enough to love them enough to give them Godly wisdom for their lives.
I loved having those special times caring for others. It feels my “love tank” so full. I’ve heard of week-long get-away places where people will go to a health and fitness boot camp to FOCUS on a road to lifestyle and body transformation. Then there are couple boot camps where they go to FOCUS on each other to revitalize and renew their love and marriage. It’s important to stop the struggles and wandering and wondering to FOCUS on what’s most important in our lives.
So, now, I’m back to my little world of God and me – I get to FOCUS on what and WHO keeps me stable, unshakable, and centered. My relationship with God. With all the distractions that we are consumed by, can we possibly imagine how much God wants one-on-one “you and me” time with us – where He is the center of our attention? And when He’s the center of our attention, our FOCUS is fine-tuned on what’s good and lovely and the question about whether we do what He wants or not is easy because we will focus on what He focuses on.
This is fine-tuned FOCUS: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3). By fine-tuning our focus, we’ll always “focus on God first” Who is near to us, strengthens us, and gives us wisdom and Godly perspective to persevere through life. That FOCUS will help us focus on everything and everyone else with His perspective, His love, and His wisdom.
Hebrews 12:2 — “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith….”