Stay Focused 3

'ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS.' PROVERBS 3:6

When it comes to staying focused, keep in mind:

(1) Focused people always look for a better way. What got you where you are won't necessarily get you where you need to be. A family who moved into a new neighbourhood got a late start oen morning. As a result their six year old missed her school bus. Though it would make him late for work her father agreed to take her to school if she gave him directions. After 20 minutes of going round in circles they finally arrived at the school, which turned out to be only few blocks away from where they lived. Steaming , her dad asked why she drove him all over the place when the school was so close to home. 'We went the the way the school bus does,' she said. 'That's the way I know.'

(2) Focused people concentrate a little harder and a little longer. Hall of Fame baseball player Hank Aaron says, 'What separates a superstar from the average ballplayer is that he concentrates just a little bit longer.' Focused thinking is the ability to remove distractions and mental clutter so that you can concentrate with clarity.

(3) Focused people make commitments, not excuses. A sign on the desk of an officer at the Pentagon read: 'The secrecyn of my job does not permit me to know what I'm doing.' It's a cute joke, but not so cute whne it's true. When you don't know what you're doing, you become frustrated and end up failing. That is why praying and getting direction fro God is critical for your life. 'In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path.'

Stay Focused 1

LET'S KEEP FOCUSED...THOSE OF US WHO WANT EVERYTHING GOD HAS FOR US.' PHILIPPIANS 3:15 TM

You become effective by being selective. It's human nature to get distracted. We're like gyroscopes, spinning around at frantic pace but not getting anywhere. Without a clear purpose you keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, etc., hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, 'This time it will be different,' but it doesn't solve your real problem; lack of focus.

The power of focusing can be seen in light. With a magnifying glass the rays of the the sun can set paper on fire. But when light is focused even more as a laser beam, it can cut through steel. Nothing is as potent as a focused life. The men and women who make the greatest difference in life are the most focused. For instance, the Apostle Paul said, 'I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing' (Philippians 3:13 TLB). Paul's obsession was to make Christ known.

So if you want your life to have impact, focus it!
Stop dabbling.
Stop trying to do it all.
Do less.
Turn away from even good activities and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity.
Poet William Matthews wrote, 'One well-cultivated talent, deepened and enlarged, is worth a hundred shallow faculties. The first law of success in this day when so many things are clamouring for attention is concentration to bend our energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left.'

Does focus come easily or naturally?
No, it's a discipline that must be practiced every day.

adapted from The Word For Today.