Unfortunately, it is the loss of focus that causes many of us to cycle through hopeful starts and many failed stops as other things scream for our attention.
I looked up the word FOCUS and it means to pay particular attention to, a focal point, a hub.
For some reason, when I thought of the word focus, the picture that came to my mind was that of a horse wearing blinders on the sides of their eyes. Horses have peripheral vision, which means they end up running off course, unless they are made to remain focused, in other words, to keep them from being distracted from outside interferences. A horse has a one track mind, so if you can keep them occupied with one thing, you usually keep him from reacting to something else. I don't think we are much different than a horse, we need blinders on the sides of our eyes, because there are so many distractions around us and voices pulling us in many directions, we get thrown off course. Proverbs 4:25-27 says: Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the left or the right, keep your foot from evil. Can I tell you that our enemy, Satan is extremely focused. His plan and strategy is to keep us from knowing and carrying out God's plan on the earth. It's amazing the lengths he will go to wear us out, wasting our time and energy doing a lot of things that just don't matter to God. Sometimes it's the dumb stuff that distracts us - I'm talking about big time wasters like worrying, idle talk, getting angry about things we can't control, trying to change people, and expecting to never be hurt or disappointed by others. It's all just a useless waste of your time and energy. In most relationships, there are only a few things that happen over and over that disrupts the flow and keeps us off course. During one of those times, I was struggling and I was talking to the Lord about it and this is what I believe He said, “Linda, you’re the accelerator in the car and Gord is the brake and when the brake and the accelerator are happening at the same time, you have a jerk in the car, however, if you will let go of your way and your timing and allow me to give you wisdom in the situation, I can help make the ride much smoother. You need the brake and you need the accelerator in a car for it to work, just not at the same time.” To this day, the Holy Spirit still needs to remind me of this so I don’t end up with a jerk in the car!
To love someone, you can’t put a microscope on problems, hurts and issues. I’m certainly not suggesting you ignore issues or hurtful behavior, but in healthy relationships it’s important to focus on the positive as you confront your differences.
LET'S CHOOSE TO FOCUS IN ON THE TASK AT HAND &
SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THINGS FROM GOD'S PERSPECTIVE!