Friday Fight 75 - Our Fluctuating Focus

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF75.

Being focused is a beautiful thing. We see our goals somewhat clearly and can recognize what we have already accomplished. Our focus removes distractions. But what happens to our spiritual life when we shift our focus away from God and place it on other things?

Our Fluctuating Focus:

When we think of the word focus, where do our thoughts go? It could be areas like our spiritual life, eating habits, or maybe our gym routine. For those who lift, let's take a traditional deadlift, for example. Correctly lifting while protecting our body from injury requires complete focus. With a deadlift, we can envision pushing the floor away from us instead of lifting the weight or keeping our eyes fixed on one spot, allowing blinders to those lifting around us. Our focus could also consist of squeezing the bar, keeping our body weight in our heels, our upper back tight, and using a breath to form a pressurized barrier around our spine. A lot of focus for a 3-second lift, but this type of focus protects us from physical injury.

So what happens to our spiritual lives when we aren't clearly focused on God? Pushing away dark, heavy spiritual things is difficult when we aren't entirely focused on God, His Word, and communicating through prayer. Sadly, this happens when our focus fluctuates without our awareness. Maybe there are people or situations that darkness is currently using to shift our focus away from God, but it is happening so slowly we cannot even see it. Concentrating when lifting weights prevents physical injury, and putting God first protects us spiritually.

Regrettably, we find out rather quickly when we aren't entirely attentive during certain things. Not just a deadlift, but driving or even carrying something while down the stairs can all be a game changer if not paying attention. Unfortunately, our lack of focus is not as immediately felt in our spiritual lives as falling down the stairs or a minor traffic accident is. Darkness works slowly and intentionally until our spiritual lives have been compromised. 

We all have seasons of varying focus in life, depending on the situation and our will to succeed. Where does the beautiful story God has written for our lives seem to shift because of the distractions around us? Be intentional about focusing on God and watch those things that cause you to worry, fear, or be anxious disappear. Spiritual death is so slowly consuming that we don't even see it. But with the Holy Spirit's guidance, the renewal of God's power breaks through, revealing how skewed our focus has become. Then, once again, through the presence of Christ, we are free. In surrendering to God, we find true life in the center of our being and understand that protecting our spiritual lives is more important than all else.

Pastor Shannon

New Life Calvert