There are times in the life of every woman {and perhaps every man – I don’t know, I’ve never been one} where even though all seems well, the heart still feels like a stormy sea. Although you can’t really explain it, there’s peace on the outside, but inside, the waves are a-crashing.

There are times in the life of every woman and man — I’m more certain about this one — where the waves are literally a-crashing, and it seems like walls are falling down around you. You are not sure which way is up.

But there are times, too, when all of life seems a peaceful stream, the sun is shining the radio is tuning your favorite jam, and it feels like things are happening just as they should be. I like those times.

I like easy.

No matter the scenario, I think there’s a valuable thing we can continually pray for.

FOCUS.

Just this morning, I found myself, in the midst of a sun-shiny moment, asking the Lord for focus:

“…Help me to see where I need to re-focus. How I can make better use of the time You’ve given me by re-prioritizing. Help me to not be distracted by things that do not need my focus or attention, so that I can accomplish the things I was created to do with the time that I have.”

The Hubs and I recently caught up with some old friends we haven’t seen for a long time, whom we’re not likely to see again for a wee while. We just had a couple of hours together. We laughed and chatted about life and family and the typical catching-up stuff, and then we got into a long conversation, a friendly sort of debate, about a hypothetical topic, which was to do with our mutual faith.

It was never heated or unpleasant, mind you, it was just a lengthy discussion.

When we were in the car afterwards, I voiced regret about how we’d spent the time. More than a theological debate, I wished we’d made use of that time to really find out how those friends were doing. How was their faith? Were they in a healthy community? How could we pray for them or encourage them?

I was sorry to have spent so much time in a way that would’ve been okay if we saw each other every other week, mayhaps, but in this situation, some of the time seemed, well, wasted.

See this photo right here?

DSC_9083

And this one right here?

DSC_9084

They are very, very similar, in terms of composition — same subject, same framing, same setting, same lighting.

The only difference — which makes a big difference — is the focus. Looking back and forth from one photo to the other, you’ll realize that one simple adjustment completely changes the picture.

And what we decide to focus on completely changes our picture.

This Sunday at church, I was thankful, for yet another reason, that we were starting the time together by simply getting our focus off of ourselves. Setting aside our problems and concerns. Things we were happy about and things we were bothered about. We just put our eyes on God and His goodness, and focused on praising Him, worshiping Him. He was our focus.

When it feels like life is full of problems and we give our full attention to them, we often lose sight of the things that we should be focusing on. Like being thankful for family or health, a job, a place to live, and more than anything, the finished work of Christ on the cross. Our irrevocable redemption. The fierce and true love of an un-changing God.

Even when things are well, we can tend to lose focus and get distracted. There is a reason you and I are here on this Earth. There are good works, prepared in advance for us to do. {Eph. 2:10} And sometimes I think being comfortable makes us lazy. Short-term decisions hinder long-term goals.

We waste the only commodity we can’t buy more of.

So whether life is moonshine and roses or weeds and brussel sprouts today, ask for help finding the right focus. It will completely change the picture.

xCC