Fixing Our Focus

To the right or to the left

to the past or up ahead 

I pray to turn Lord,

to Your presence to be led. 

When lists are endless 

and routines run long, 

Lord, fix my focus 

to where it belongs…

Are you ready for some extra raw honesty here? I have to say it…

If I’m not careful, I could spend all day on social media. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t, but hear me out and I’ll explain what I mean.

I actually love creating, posting, engaging, sharing and I guess because I’m an author, there’s some marketing too. I do love it. I also get very focused on tasks, so when I have my mind set on doing something, I do it. But I need to be careful then with how I use my days, remembering to limit the areas that need limiting like social media. I need to fix my focus on what matters first and foremost.

Over the past 1.5 years, God has been really working in my life in this area. Getting me to reflect on such questions as… Where does He want me to focus first? Are my priorities straight? Where and how does He want me to use my writing? Does too much of something good often become a distraction? 

And… is my focus helping or hindering my presence?

The questions bring me back to Hebrews ,

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬-‭3 NIV‬‬)

I find the best way to fix my eyes and focus is starting my day in His presence and in the Bible. Then, when I walk down the stairs to start my day, oh how so much can rush in. The hurries and worries, the schedules and messes, everything seems to overflow my brain like that infamously overflowing laundry. And those are the moments I am learning to pause, even if the day just started, Pausing to refocus, to reevaluate, to say, Lord, lead me.

In most situations, I know where my focus should be. Do I focus there all days? No! I’m a work in progress. As I’m getting better at it, I am also recognizing that when I do put my best and first work focused on what God is leading me to do, most of those days go smoother.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”

(‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

“But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.” (‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

(‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

He is the way, the truth, the life.

He is everything.

That is why we must CONTINUE to seek Him not just at the start of the day, but throughout each day. I mean if we don’t, I’m not sure we focus forward very much at all. 

God’s will, not mine! 

What helps you focus? How do you best focus? What kind of focuser are you?What do you do to keep yourself focused on Jesus first?

Asking myself those questions has helped me evaluate and readjust in this department. While I am a very focused person, the reality is my focus is sometimes flawed. I also need to make sure that I don’t get so zeroed in on a task or goal that I miss out on moments or dismiss what is going on right in front of me. That is why I need to turn to Jesus time and time again in order to stay the course. And also, quickly repent when I falter and remain stagnant in my faith walk. A lot of remaining focused on what matters in life involves keeping ourselves actively seeking and growing in our relationship with the Lord.

That brings me to the Book of Revelations when Jesus instructed John to write to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Let’s focus on Sardis. To start, its “present” didn't match its “past” yet it was a powerhouse. They were content with their past encounters with the Lord and not moving forward in their relationship with Him. Can we get like that too? Focused on what God has already done and not in growing our relationship with Him deeper? 

Sure it’s important to remember, to praise God for what He has done.

To God be all the glory!

But more importantly, let’s praise Him for who He is. 

Still, we are expected to grow in faith too. And why wouldn’t we want to? I mean when I look back to my life before truly knowing Christ, I may have wrongly thought a deeper faith would limit my life. What a lie! Instead, it is where true freedom overflows from… faith. The journey of faith, of diving deeper, of becoming who God calls us to be. 

So let’s pause to reflect on this: What is God doing now? Where is He leading us? How can we focus on that and not ALL the distractions. 

We must also learn to fix our focus on continuing to grow in our faith journey and relationship with Him. Like mentioned above, one way I have found that helps with this refocusing is practicing the pause. It is when we pause throughout each day to walk and talk to Jesus and praise Him as well as asking Him to guide us.

 Dear God, Fix my focus. Help me walk in faith! In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

But let’s dive in even deeper while speaking of our walking with this question, Have you ever sleepwalked? 

I remember a few times being told that I had. For example, one time was at a Girl Scout camp sleepover. I remember being mortified when I was told in the morning because I could not recall the event at all. But that is just sleepwalking, it is not living right? Or is it?

Can we also live in a way that is much like sleepwalking? Walking and just going through the motions? Kind of like driving to work only to arrive and think, “I don’t remember driving here.” Scary!

Do we have moments like that? Day after day, list after list crossed off only to be brought to the question of: how did I get here? 

And that is what I hear when I read… ‭‭

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wake up sleeper! 

We need to keep going forward. We need to keep walking in a relationship with Jesus. God should be the motivation of our heart. Through everything, He is everything. When we need help with our focus or anything we can pray to him too. Lord, expose anything in my heart that is not from you, of you or for you. We seek You! 

The days cannot just revolve around our routines or crossing off our lists. Don’t get me wrong, I love a messily crossed off checklist but … our lives are more than just going through the motions and those lists. It is really about the mission within our hearts.

But life is hard. Lies seep in through the creases. Therefore, we need to take care of the cracks then. We need to learn to be present in our faith. We need to not just open the Bible as routine. We need to keep it real and active in our lives, actively seeking God’s presence first. Maybe it means we add in something different to our schedules like a new Bible study or get connected to or in a Bible-based church if we aren’t already. 

We must continue to seek growth in our faith journey. Therefore, The Art of a Messy House reflection and challenge is this: Whatever it is we do, let's remember and go back to God’s Word. We must fix our focus to rebuild the foundation. Sometimes, we may need to go back to the basics and see what more God reveals to us or renews in us. The gospels are a great place to start. I started in John and continue to come back and back to it. Let’s grasp the Gospel. Let’s also sit at the feet of Jesus starting each morning and through each day, laying down everything.

Return to and revive in God’s presence.

Repent to be realigned and awaken from any sleepwalking into His marvelous light.

Turn away from routine and open our eyes to and for Jesus, the reason for every single season.

And we do that by practicing that pause, by taking the moments each day to dwell in God’s presence, talking to Him and asking Him to fix our focus on growing our relationship with Him while throwing off anything that hinders us. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

“If you love me, obey my commandments.” (‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬)

I mean when I think of His love for me and how He sacrificed it all so that we could have eternal life… I have no words. I fall to my knees and want to show my love back in my real not perfect way, in any way I can. 

So I’ll start right here right now by fixing my focus again.

Eyes on eternity.

Eyes on Jesus.

For there is no greater love or hope.

Only Jesus 

“But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.” (‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Let’s pray. 

Dear God,

You are so good. Your love is nothing I deserve and still you give it. Thank You. Forgive my wandering focus. Help me fix any eyes on You and Your ways instead not my own. May gratitude flow through me and may I always see your beauty around. I pray to continue to grow closer and closer to You. I pray to become all You put me here to be. I pray that my eyes and heart are remain on and for You. And may You forever get all the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen 

A new book for kids is due out in December and it focuses on God’s goodness all around us, bringing us back to the basics.