F.O.C.U.S.

“Hey I don't know about you but I can’t wait till the day

When I'll be with my Lord and everything is ok

And I'll be just like him so sin won't get in the way

Basking in his glory that's where I want to stay

I just wanna go where

I'm only breathing your air

Father hear my prayer

Take me there

Take me there”

{Take Me There – Trip Lee}

The girls really like to listen to Christian “rap” type music.  Me, I

can take it or leave it – for the most part leave it!  The song “Take

Me There” by Tripp Lee has been running through my head lately though, so I

thought maybe it was time to reflect and post about some thoughts that

I have been thinking in relation to those lyrics.

Read those lyrics above again, and reflect, are they true for you?

Can you really say that you can’t wait for the day, the day when

you’ll be with your Lord and everything will be o.k.?  When you’ll be

just like Him and sin won’t get in the way?  When you go “there”

{heaven} and are breathing only His air?  Wow!  That should be what I

can’t wait for, should be what I focus continually on, but, more often

than not, my mind wanders from those thoughts.

It got me to thinking, how many times have I said, “I can’t wait”?  I can

think of so many examples . . . when I was pregnant . . . “I can’t

wait until this baby is born” . . . and then . . . “I can’t wait until

she can roll over, crawl, talk, walk” . . . “I can’t wait until there

are no more bottles, diapers, diaper bags” . . . “I can’t wait until I

get a new job, a new car, start a new project, move into our new house” . . . “I

can’t wait until Christmas, my birthday, that “special day”” . . . “I

can’t wait until vacation, spring break, the weekend” . . . you get

the picture . . . our lives {mine at least} seem to be full of “I

can’t wait’s”!  And pretty much all of them {again, at least for me}

is very earthly and temporal . . . WHY is my focus not on I can’t wait

until the day when I’ll be with my Lord and everything is o.k.?  Why

do I allow the things of this earth to over-shadow eternity.  Why

don’t I keep my focus?

Lately, God has been teaching me {through others} to re-focus my

focus.  To look at my circumstances in light of eternity.  To

remember, will it really be important 5 years from now {and in reality

will it be important 5 minutes from now}?  I’ve been learning to

forgive – and forget.  I’ve been learning to extend grace – as Christ

extended grace to me.  I’ve been learning to be more patient.  I’ve

been learning to empathize with other’s circumstances rather than

judging them . . . I’ve certainly not arrived, and I never will, but

I’m learning, and I’m becoming more like clay in the Potter’s hands

{at least I pray that I am}!  

And it’s a DAILY learning, TRUST ME!!  

I totally blew it again Monday.   We came home from a “mini-vacation” on Sunday

and I came home sick {never say never, but I never get sick!}.  So,

when we got home, I headed straight to bed.  Everyone else relaxed for

the afternoon . . . which is great . . . except when mom wakes up the

next morning and everything from the weekend is still

ALL.OVER.THE.HOUSE!  Let’s just say, I wasn’t very gracious.  Or

patient.  Or Christ-like.  I had to retract my ill-spoken words {again} and

apologize {again}.  Ugh.  I had to be reminded that a messy house is a

house that is lived in and loved in.  It’s a house full of people

living and loving and enjoying life.  It’s a mess that does NOT matter in the

light of eternity  . . . or for that matter, in 5 minutes.  The words

spoken in anger are far longer lasting than the mess in the house.

Oh, if I could please remember that next time . . . my devotional from

Proverbs 31 Ministries had this prayer . . . on Monday {I LOVE God’s

timing} . . . “Dear Lord, I blew it today.  I gave in to my knee-jerk

reaction and lost it.  Please forgive me for the things I said that

were mean & harmful to others … harmful to Your heart.  Grant me the

humility to make things right, to say I’m sorry, to ask for

forgiveness.  Help me to be obedient to Your Word that tells me that

it’s better to hold my tongue and my temper, than to give into the

heat of the moment.  Thank You Jesus. Amen.”   Yes, Amen.  F.O.C.U.S.

and then re-focus!  Another of my devotionals had this, “We must make

the continual choice to fix our gaze on God and our glance on the

circumstances”!  F.O.C.U.S.  This quote reminds me that it is a choice

– a continual choice to fix my gaze on God and glance at my

circumstances – which is hard for this “Type A . . . A.D.H.D.”

personality to do!

So I have to choose daily, hourly, by the minute to F.O.C.U.S. . . .

and re-focus – on God, on my family, on what is truly important in

life and what really won’t matter in 5 minutes!

F.O.C.U.S. . . .

Psalm 119:15

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.