Focus determines everything. When the world is rushing by; when everyone is swarming for your attention, trying to distract you into dependence; when there simply seems to be less time than task, you can easily spin out of control.
I have come dangerously close to burnout in my life. Life needs to be full. It needs to be bigger than your capacity. It needs to challenge you physically, emotionally and spiritually. But it also needs the right focus so that your direction is not affected.
Think of it this way: if we gave 100% focus to every single thing we do in a day, we would be exhausted. If I had to physically and intentionally look at every single letter key that I am typing with right now, I would probably take much longer and be mentally exhausted. If you drive, imagine how dangerous it would be to focus on flicking your indicator while driving on a highway. Your focus would be pulled from the road in front of you and collisions could happen at any moment.
In the same way, I believe we can all head for collision when our focus is placed on things that are necessary for the journey, but not essential for the direction of our lives. Going back to the driving analogy – we only know when to use our indicator by seeing the turn we need to take up ahead. If I focussed solely on the indicator, I would have no use for it. In the same way, our main focus determines how we operate with every part of our lives – both in private and in public.
In the Bible there are many references to storms. In a storm, things can become extremely chaotic. It is in the storm that fear becomes real. It is in the storm that our survival overcomes our common sense. It is in storms that the direction we are travelling in becomes unsure and we can forget our mission. But knowing Jesus changes our response to the storm. In one instance, he stopped a storm. In another he walked on the waves. Jesus is the Lord of the storm, but that doesn’t mean when you’re with him it’s always going to be calm. If the apostle Paul is anything to go by, God will use the storms to test your resolve and lead you where he wants you to go… (Paul was shipwrecked twice, and ended up seeing whole tribes find God instead of sailing straight past them).
Personally, I have seen the power of finding Jesus in the storm. If you look at large hurricanes and tornadoes, there is a central point that is called the eye: it is the place where everything is calm. As the eye of the storm moves, so the chaos spinning around moves too. With Jesus, we are in the eye of the hurricanes of life. Things might be whipping about around you. You may see things you regarded as permanent being ripped out of your world; you can watch as the landscape of your future completely turns and everything you’ve built on begin to fall away, and still have peace. It all depends on our focus.
In the eye of the storm, if you focus on the things that are being thrown about around you – if you lock your eyes on specific positions, tasks, people, emotions or objects that are spinning around you – you will end up spinning yourself. But if you choose to look at Jesus, the God of the storm, you will be able to stand no matter what. Psalm 16: 8 says: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
God has come close – he chose to humble and humiliate himself for the sake of you and me. He not only knows about your present situation, but wants you to know that he is there with you. There is no one that cares more than Jesus. If you have been struggling to find a focus for your life – something that will not change no matter what – can I suggest that Jesus could be what you’re looking for?
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