A Matter of Focus

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. I Sam 16: 7

“The world is too much with us late and soon..."

Isn't that the truth?

Wordsworth got it right when he described my life: spouse, kids, parents, job, church, taxes, health, bills and pleasures. This whole life is a sponge of responsibilities that soak up my attention---and I'm supposed to be spiritually minded.

Right! Perhaps in the morning with my coffee prayers and at bedtime with my “lay me down to sleep” prayers.

Is this world set up where I have to escape from the busyness of life in order to be rightly focused on the Lord? To some degree that’s true, but more importantly, I suspect God wants me to be rightly focused on Him in the middle of my fast paced responsibilities.

If we take the incarnation of Jesus seriously, we understand that God wants to live through our real life, not just in the breaks between the important events of our days. He wants us to see each hectic encounter as a divine encounter, where he is present, changing lives. Unfortunately, for most of us, this truth lies before us but our view remains out of focus.

Focus is a matter of choice and God allows us to choose the lens we use to focus life.

As we ricochet through the hectic moments of our days, we can view the world through the lens of self or we can view the world through the acutely truthful lens of the Cross. If we choose our own lens, we often see life out of balance.

If, however, we choose the lens of the Cross, each encounter in our day looks different:

People who hurt us don’t look so bad because we see ourselves and remember God’s mercy.

Good men still look lost if they have not found the Father.

Our hectic schedules reveal God weaving His thread of opportunity and grace through every encounter.

In our weakness, we see His power; in our surrender, we see His victory.

In every person, we see our responsibility, dependent on His power.

Some of us need to slow down and simplify so that we may be more rightly focused on God. All of us need to focus on the life we now live through the lens of the Cross.

Dear God,
Help me today to see the world and every person I meet as you see them.
Amen.