Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. – Psalm 105:4
Living a life of worship is about knowing where to place our focus. Every day, no matter how busy or how relaxed, there are multiple things that desire our focus. So often we give our focus to too many things, and find that we aren’t able to get anything done.
I know I feel that way from time-to-time. I might want to focus on a writing project, but at the same time, I have an email that needs attention, get a phone call or text message, one of the kids has a question, or needs something, there is a visitor in the office, the list of things that want to draw my attention could go on and on, and has yet to cover the topics of the way news outlets or advertising seeks to gain some of our attention. So how do I or we get back to our main focus?
Some might say, we need to create a space where those distractions are limited or can’t get to us. That advice might work, but there are plenty of times that isn’t possible. We might try to give everything a little bit of our attention, but after a while, we will probably be so distracted we have no idea what we were trying to do in the first place. I find that the advice of the psalmist, to seek the presence of God, continually helps everything else fall into place. I don’t know that it will work for everyone, but keeping the focus on God’s presence to give us strength and encouragement allows us to remember why we do the things we do. It reminds us that there are those who are important to us, and we should acknowledge them, and hear what they have to say. The presence of God also guides us to what is important, so we can decide whether or not to answer the phone call or text now or later. The presence of God also helps us to realize that the news or advertising isn’t that important right now, and it will be there whenever we have the chance to catch up. I believe our strength is found in God’s call to remember those around us, know the love of God that is in us, and in those relationships. Especially as we approach a time of Thanksgiving, we should make sure our attention is drawn to the things that matter most – giving thanks to God, for give us wonderful people in which to share His divine love.
May your day be filled with focus, and may it be on the presence of our Lord.
Grace & Peace,
Sam